I spent a wonderful weekend in Venice and nearby, despite the cold weather. It also snowed on saturday, so I managed to see a grey Venice with little snow.

While in Venice, I met the awesome Oddo, who introduced me a few people/places regarding his next project in which I'm involved [I am totally excited about it, going to work with some of my favourite photogs/models! Yay!]. Couldn't agree more on some things he said.

We spent the morning visiting places, talking about his project and we shared ideas and concepts. The most terrible part must have been going on the gondola in order to get to the other side "of the water". While Oddo [and Bernie, his dog] felt comfortable swinging on the gondola, I was secretly hoping not to fall into the cold water. I managed not to and kept the balance, in case you're wondering. Not-going-to-do-it-again-unless-I'm-sitting-somewhere.
I also met Oddo's adorable wife and visited Teatrio headquarters [or something like that ;)].

Before leaving, I asked my boyfriend to take a picture of us both. From left to right, Oddo and Delilah (me! It's meee!)

After leaving Oddo's house, my bf and I explored Venice another bit. We were looking for the infamous shop that sold me candy apples about couple of years ago.. and we finally managed to find it! The shop's owner noticed I was all excited about finding it and gave me a little map so I could find them again. Went all *squee*. Yes, I'm easily pleased, candy apples do the rest.

After couple of hours walking, we headed to the train station and left Venice, got back to the apartment we were staying in for the weekend, hunted for a restaurant, got our pizzas and all went well. Let's not mention that the pizzeria* right behind our house was open and we went exploring the opposite side of the city and the first one we found was about after couple of kms walk.. How typical :)

* [=proper Italian name that means "restaurant that makes pizzas"]

I will be away during this weekend, leaving to Venice and nearby. Will be back next week with hopefully some more news :) Enjoy your weekend!

Ingredients:

• frozen shrimps [250gr]


• red hot pepper


• black pepper


• salt


• soy sauce


• lime juice


• onion


• peanut oil (any oil, except olive oil, can do. Olive oil is/may taste very strong, too strong, so it's just easier if you do not use it, otherwise your shrimps will taste like olive oil).


• A package of spinach pasta (that's why it's green!). I used a package of 250grams of spaghetti and it's enough for 4 people's (small portions, you're supposed to eat something else other than pasta). If you want to make more pasta, then also double the shrimps!


• Not really an 'ingredient', still better if you get it: A large pan, even better if it's a wok

How to:

1. First step is the marinade. So put all of your shrimps in a bowl and mix with some soy sauce (3/4 spoons), some lime juice (approx. a spoon), onion (I used some onion sauce I own: you can chop some onion and put it in the marinade. Remind to take them off before cooking the shrimps!). Add the spices, as much/many as you want. This really depends on your tastes. I advice not to put too much pepper as shrimp's taste isn't strong and it may just disappear.
   Stir it with a spoon so the marinade reaches every little shrimp and let it rest for at least twenty minutes. The more, the better. Stir from time to time.



2. In the meanwhile, cook the pasta. Put some water in a cooking pan, add salt (you should taste the water and the taste should be salty).
   When the water is boiling, put the pasta in the pan and let it cook for a while. Taste the pasta in order to understand if the consistence is good for you: I know there are "cooking minutes" printed on the package, however you better never believe that. The best way to know if the pasta is good for you is to grab one of your spaghetti and bite it :)
   When the pasta is okay, dry the water and keep following these instructions.



3. Take the shrimps apart, squeeze them a bit and separate shrimps from marinade. Keep the marinade, put it in a recipient and mix very well with a bit of flour (really not too much, let's say half spoon). Add some water if your marinade isn't watery enough. This will become your sauce.



4. Put some oil in the pan [better if you're using a wok] and wait until it's hot. Add the shrimps and cook them for a minute or two, stir-fry style. Keep stirring.



5. Add the marinade and keep stirring. Since you added some flour, the watery marinade will soon turn into thick sauce. Great.



6. The triumph: add the pasta and mix altogether, for a minute. If you like it, add some more black pepper on top.

Done. It was easy, wasn't it?


Tips:

• Do not add the flour all at once in the marinade. Add bit by bit and keep mixing, otherwise you'll get blobs! Nasty flour blobs!


• If the sauce is too thick, add a bit of water and keep mixing. Do not add too much water at once, otherwise it will never blend with the sauce


• Remember that soy sauce is salty, so do not add more salt to the marinade :)

What about games?

I have always drawn a not-so-thin line between computer geeks and gamer geeks. Of course, there are cases in which the two merge (coding games?). I am a computer geek. Still, I sometimes play games too.

My favourite are platform games and arcades. I am much in love with retro games, such as 'New Zealand's Story' or 'Bubble Bobble' or 'Tetris' (and my mother was the best player of PacMan ever!). Super Mario, in all of its flavours, is of course a must. I played Kirby, Yoshi's Island, Parodius, Bomberman, Monkey Island, Donkey Kong.. too many to list. My brother and I (yes, I've got a bro :D) played lots and lots of games. We have been lucky; we got a secondhand Nintendo Console when we were kids. We owned a large number of consoles: Nintendo (NES), Super Nintendo (SNES), Sega Saturn, Gameboy (vintage), Gameboy Color, GameCube, Playstation, Playstation2 and a couple of all-in-one pre-programmed 101-games-included cheap consoles. And I am probably forgetting something. Oh, and I can rock your socks off when playing Killer Instinct (of course, my character was often Black Orchid, the Aikido goddess :)). As if I was able to perform a single aikido move.

What about the newest games? I'm not into 3D really much. I am more a pixel-person. I like 2D. However, I can do nothing but send huge kudos to American McGee's Alice (by Electronic Arts) and Portal (by Valve). Must-play.

I am not a fan of shooters; most of those games bore me. Instead, I appreciate very much a few games that apparently make large use of physics. I am dying to try LittleBigPlanet (PS3). I've seen a video on youtube and it features the most awesome physics engine ever. Sadly [or shall I say luckily?] I do not own any of the very latest consoles. No xbox, nor PS3, not even WII. If I had to get one, I'd probably go for the third. Why? First, because at first glance, it has the best games (and/or the ones that fit my tastes better). Second, because the Wiimote is the cheapest piece of technology (=cheapest oscilloscope) I can get for my scary experiments :3

What's your favourite game? Your best memories? Your first console, if you ever had one? Do you still own any? Which one? I am so curious to hear from you!

Oh and pretty please, vote for Barbie Computer Engineer. Let's stop this nurses-and-all-that-is plague. Go geeks!

Past week has been crazy. Literally. I was (am?) going nuts.

So here's the answer to the second question by bobbysroom (first one was about math and computers, second one about..)

"I would ask you what you think about the use of Photoshop in your modeling carer but some how I think that is something best left to those people that have a personal opinion, at least that is what I would want to know. Rather than your professional opinion, not that it is any less important, it is just more interesting to know how a model feels about the raw image in comparison to what happens when image goes to print."

I've discussed this topic a thousand times, mostly on photography forums or with photographers. It's very difficult to keep short on this, because I know there are so many things to say and so many different points of view. This is mine :)

There are two different types of photography, the one that wants to "catch the moment" and the one that wants "to do something more" with the picture. Of course both are good, it's up to each person to choose when and if to use one or the another.

I like photoshop and all of those tools, if you ask me. I see gfx programs as a big resource. It's my chance to entering a fantasy world, to fly, to do anything that would not be possible in reality. So, I welcome photoshop to enrich images. There are moments in which you can't really use it (ie: for a model book) so it's up to the image creators not to exceed.

I like to consider myself an 'artist' more than a 'mannequin'. I like to create. I prefer my images to have something 'different'. More than photoshop, I work a lot on the styling part of the shoot. I have little means and big ideas. I do what I can :)

In short, I value a lot shoots with big styling efforts, that in the end will require little to none retouch. And I welcome photoshop, it will will bring a little pretty unicorn in my pictures. Why not :) As long as my face stays the same in pictures and my traits are not altered, all is well :)

I have a funny anecdote about something that happened at work couple of days ago. A guy from south Italy [right the opposite side of Italy, and I specify that because he clearly did not know the place and was used to something totally different] came to the office and went chitchatting, also asking about the city. I told him a few things about the place (which is quite close to the mountains and the Austrian borders) and he replied me, showing off the best-amazed-face-ever: "Oh yes. I was very surprised when i saw the city at first! I mean *pointing his finger to the closest Benetton's shop* you got shops! Shops selling well known brands!".

Weird guy.

Happy Holidays!

I hope you spent a wonderful Christmas (well, those of you who celebrate it). Also, 2010 is quickly approaching and it's the good chance to change something in our lives. The beginning of a new year is always full of expectations, hopes, we all root for something to happen. I find it fascinating.

I wish you the best; may 2010 bring you happiness, joy, health and love. I wish all of your dreams to come true [or well, at least some ;)]; so never, never stop dreaming. Dreaming is what makes us go on. This is what helps us go on and get better and better.

I was experimenting makeup today. I tried not to exceed with glitter (on my face, ahr ahr ahr, the branches I'm hiding behind are completely covered in glitter!). I also wanted to try recording a video-tutorial, however my webcam is.. well, "not enough" probably. It's very old, I'll tell you. Of course it does not have much video quality (we measure quality in megapixels) and the images are so noisy you can't even see the eyeshadow blending. Which actually is the most interesting part of any eyeshadow-based makeup. Boo. Amen to that, I am too shy anyway :3 - my bravery fell to pieces together with my webcam's performances. I am still waiting for a backstage video anyway, so you will probably get to see me moving. Sooner or later. Don't ask, I am not even sure that video still exists, I was supposed to get it in the mail some time ago -.-°

Anyway, this was just a little post to wish you the best. Happy Holidays, have fun!


[Note: In case you're wondering, the blue thing on my eye is not eyeshadow. It's blue light, coming from the blue fairylights of this awesome glittery thing! If you look closer you can see them!]
[Note2: I'm keeping the 'second question, second answer' post for next days. Bear with me! :)]

I skipped a few days of my personal 'blogging timetable'. I kept procrastinating about what to write, as I had couple of 'articles' done (recipes and makeup! What do you want to see first? :)) however I was looking forward shooting better pictures. I also went through a very difficult week, lots of unexpected things happened so I really had no time to write something decent. Please forgive me :)

Anyway.

I got couple of interesting questions, as comments to my previous entries. I thought it would have been cool to share them. If you have any question, just comment my entries (wherever you can) or send questions and comments via email. Thank you bobbysroom for inspiring me this post :)


Of course I had to decorate this entry with a picture. Since none I own seems to be on topic and I am too lazy to shoot one on purpose, let's heavily go off topic anyway and post a backstage. This is by EVH (check his new website!) and I was getting ready for the shoot :)

So, first question (will answer only one this post, otherwise would be too long. Next days, next Q/A! :D):

"What is it about math that you find so interesting? And since you are a computer savvy person, what kind of things do you do with your computer? I mean do you like to write software or is there any particular program(s) that you could find yourself working with for hours at a time."

I will just split this question into two different questions; the one about maths, and the one about computers.

There's a little bit of history to hear, first. Uh-oh, I knew you were really hoping for me not to say this. Don't worry, I'll try to keep the "story of my life" short.

In my teens I did not like math. Just like gazillions of other people anyway. I believe that math is not 'difficult'; it's just like a puzzle. One has to see the piece well and understand what the right position is, in order to match it with the others and create the whole picture. In 9/10 of the cases, people do not like maths because their teachers haven't been 'good enough' in teaching it. Sad to say, however truly true. I think there are so many unaware math lovers around ;)

During university, I have been kinda forced studying maths, so I gave it a second chance. All of my efforts went into learning how 'advanced basics' worked and little by little learnt the whole thing, mostly by myself. At the point that I had fun doing algebra for relaxing and I liked how math proofs worked. Some are really funny. They're wicked. Some are black magic. The number is there, then you for some reason assume it's like this, and that thing sounds like the other one, and since it sounds like the other one we can say the result is: a pear. Oh God. It really is like that. I kid you  not! And this is what I like the most: you can play with maths. Nobody ever told me that :3

Of course, you lose the ability once you stop doing so. It requires constant practice, just like sport. You get better at it the more you do it, and tend to forget how to calculate a "x" after a while you do not.  And of course I'm not that good at maths anymore, I never practice these days. I am still quite good, however not as good as I used to be :)

We're at the point in which I should introduce computers. Well, maths become unbelievable when you apply them to programming. This means that a "simple" math formula can turn into a fantastic shape. Let's talk about Game Programming. Computer graphics. 3D. Or even when you resize your photos: it's all about maths, and what you do is to 'interpolate'. Would you ever imagine you're just fitting those polynomial curves between the points you specify? Neat.

So I used a lot maths when coding, in a special way when putting my dirty little hands into gamecode and several scenarios. I also had to solve academic math problems, which I did not like, still one of my first ASM progs was about implementing Fibonacci :D (I had been promised an icecream, so I did it quite fast. And got the icecream. I am easily pleased :D. I will code for  icecreams!).

Any "particular program(s) I could find myself working with for hours at a time"..? Not really, at the right moment. It depends. When I get some web design/developing commissions, then I use a lot several programs. Also, when I get illustration commissions or photographic work (as I retouch a lot of other people's photos :D) then yeah, I use those gfx/retouch programs. I don't have any 'favourite' at the moment.

That's it, this is the answer to the first question. I tried to keep it short. Next time, next question ;)

Look to the sky, way up on high
There in the night stars are now right.
Eons have passed: now then at last
Prison walls break, Old Ones awake!

["The Carol of the Old Ones" - HPLHS]

Some time ago, I posted on my twitter account the following picture:



It's a webcam shot (yes, low quality, apparently the built-in webcam of my laptop features a shiny 0.3mp only webcam - boo!) in which I proudly show my über-cute Cthulhu plushie to the world. I bet you all Lovecraftians out there know what Cthulhu is (if you do not, you're highly advised to read 'The Call of Cthulhu' by H.P. Lovecraft). So while we're at it I'd like to spend a few words about Cthulhu itself and Lovecraft, of course.

I am a big Lovecraft fan. He always represented "The Other World". It's too wide and complex to be explained in such a little journal post, and the only way to get what I mean is to sit down and read Lovecraft novels. He has been the Horror writer. Actually he is the one and only. He did something totally unique and created a whole universe with his writings.. and, of course, filled our lives with nightmares. Ugly, churning, lurking, sea-stinking, scratching and crawling 'things' that keep obsessing us all. Who cares, we're happy with it, aren't we? :)

So. We're getting closer and closer to Christmas, and I wanted to make everyone a little present. Music for the Old Ones! There are three artists I'd like to introduce you, in random order, so you can add a bit of fright to your mp3 players.

The first is Seizon Orchestra (Renato Zampieri) who composed a whole suite dedicated to Lovecraftian Horror, called "The Dark Movements". You can download this awesome piece of art from the official myspace page.
"Taking inspiration from the best contemporary Score composers and Musicians - such like Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Danny Elfman or Mike Oldfield - Seizon (aka Renato Zampieri, 28 years old, self-educated guitarist from Italy) have built up a fresh new musical project, suitable to almost any kind of listener. Beware, though: this is not classical music. This is ambient music played with classical instruments!"

I also recently discovered "A scary Solstice" and "An even scarier Solstice" CDs (commercial; there are a few free samples available and couple of freebies) by HPLHS.
"Three years ago the HPLHS recorded A Very Scary Solstice - a delightful yet hideous combining of over-commercialized holiday tunes and the unspeakable horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos."

Thanks to Brian S., who pointed me to them right yesterday on facebook. I am addicted already and can't stop singing Carols. This is wicked. You will appreciate this a lot!

Last but not least, let's also keep an eye on Kozai Resonance and look forward "Black Seas of Infinity - volume 1": A tribute to Howard Phillips Lovecraft (2010). We'll be waiting in anticipation :)

Also, here's a [not complete, still interesting enough :) ] list about "Lovecraftian Music". Yay for brilliant artists!

How many cultists around you? How many of you know and like Lovecraft? Anything you would like to add about the music topic, bands you know, links you could give me about music revolving around Lovecraft Mythos? There I am. I'll be happy to hear, and listen to, your advices :D

Some of the things I like the most are geeky USB gadgets. They usually are perfectly useless (ever heard of the wireless rocket launcher :)?) still, awesome.

Let's, for example, talk about the The USB Cake. This delicious USB cake would make a great impression next to your computer (and mine :3). A bit girly I admit, still I'd love something like this. My desktop computer got couple of fake usb frontal ports and, of course, they do not work. You can plug anything you want, they simply do not work (yes, they're connected to the MoBo, I am just too lazy to check what's wrong with them). So I use an usb extension cable connected to one of the other ports and everytime I need to download pictures from my camera / plug in usb keys / recharge my mp3 player I have to use that port only :).
Of course I got other USB ports than this one, still they're permanently connected to other tools (scanner, printer, tablet, etc).. in short, I really have some good excuse to get this :)

When a cake is not enough, why not getting Cake Royale USB Drivers!? They look delicious (they're not edible; the bright side is that they will last forever!) and come in many flavours. Yummy :3

USB Christmas (heating) Gloves: I know you really want these as well. Don't deny that. One just needs those to feel warm during the winter (and these ones would work as well: rabbits!). They're absolutely useful and prevent your hands feeling dead cold. I don't know about you, my hands keep feeling like zombie's. I miss the green factor, then it's really like that and I could slowly walk around yelling BRAAAINS and unexpectedly touching everyone's neck with my dead cold hands.

USB Robot Owl: originally imported from Japan, this Robot Owl is the cuteness. And you can even choose from three owlish moods (Active, Mellow, or Sleeping) just by pressing the back button! I currently have a (non-USB) pig-on-a-stick that stares at me all of the time. A Robot Owl could become its best friend.

Of course there are timeless faves, such as Animal-shaped USB keys. What about USB jewellery instead? I am much into this Jewel Bee Necklace USB Flash Drive (into the depths of this website you can also find an exceptional Bone and a Handbag necklace - 4gb each! <3)

Last but not least, this pretty USB Big Panda Speaker caught my heart. Panda! :)

What about you? What USB tools do you own, would like to own, or just like? Let me know!


ps: I lied. The Wireless Rocked Launcher proves to actually be very useful, defending your preciousss computer from strangers for example. Would be cool to connect it to a webcam and test some facial recognition and tracking software. If it goes well and the sofware is good enough, no one will be allowed to get too close to your computer. If not, prepare to war, since you won't be allowed to touch your own computer as well! Eheh :D

Since the latest post, I've thought a lot on how the new journal should look like. Thank you all for the feedback: I got many private messages and it has been interesting to read so many varied opinions. Looks like I'm going the right way, so let's give it a try :)

Honestly, I had no idea on what to write first. I assume I should just let the ideas flow. I either have too many ideas all at once or the writer's block :) so an introductory post is needed.

I know it won't be easy for me. I am not a blogger and I often wondered how some people can find new articles to write for their journal or stories to tell to their followers. I do not know what will happen, so bear with me and of course send me advices along the way. I will appreciate them a lot.

 
(This picture is a coop between me and Cunene! The nifty little crown I wear is handmade with love by her so make sure you get one for cosplay, clubbing or just showing off !) - Bigger version of this picture on my gallery

So here's some introduction. As you (may already) know, I am Delilah. I created this journal to promote my artistic work (I model and draw) and I used to post here relevant news regarding my website and my modelling career only.  Sadly, not all of the photosets I model for are to be posted on my website (private sets, commissions, different styles are usually not posted there, for a number of reasons) and I am generally very busy doing things. This leads to having very little time to setup more shoots to be published here and, therefore, this leads to little posting activity.

My website has become a pretty showcase of (very selected) work, however the lack of "focus" on my "personality" more than my pics made me sad. Most people probably do not even visit the profile page in order to discover who I am and what I like, and directly jump to the photo galleries. It also is my fault; unlike most people, I don't like to attend mundane events and my style choice is of course not leading to the maximum fame. I am a fan of privacy and never kept a blog. I am not into gossip, not throwing random opinions to everything happens. I am, in short, being not interesting as I am mostly neutral :)

Of course I have opinions, I like and dislike this or that. I have hobbies (and I am going to talk about them in the future) and, most important, I have a personality. I am not perfect, yet I'm not that bad afterall :)

Help me: what would you like to see here? Do you have any question for me? Anything you would like to see? What about candids and random pictures? Or should I keep the pretty ones only, here? I am waiting for your opinions :)

[note: I will of course post about modelling here, including the pretty pictures and all that is. I am going to ADD topics, not to Delete or Change the existing ones :)].