Amanda · Williams

I'm home! Plus a job update.

I'm finally home, sleeping in my own bed and listening to the cardinals call as the sun rises. I admit I will miss Kain and his Alex-cat, and I will be forever appreciative to him for giving up his spare room for a few months. *crushing hug* 

I'm also glad I got a taste of what it's like to live downtown, which I've been curious about since I moved to Austin. Though it was great to be near the night life and fantastic restaurants, the nature preserve feels more like home. It's nice being so close to my favorite book/comic/clothing stores, as well as my woodsy nature trail and animal neighbors (there's some Snow White in me).

 

And yes, that's a book on the bed above. I'm terrible about turning books over to save my spot. ;)

The new job is going very well. I find myself being a communication helper elf, and I'm getting a crash course in what it takes to run a studio and help the group meet deadlines. The Company Which Shan't Be Named seems excited to start the project, as are we. In the meantime, I'm going start learning the Unreal editor tutorials during quieter moments.

Now I'm able to come home and kick my feet up on my very own couch at the end of a long work day. *content sigh*

X-posted from my Livejournal.

The Menger Hotel

The Menger Hotel
Originally uploaded by awilliams

New Images loaded to Flickr.

Ryan, Kain, and I stumbled onto this cool find near the Alamo in San Antonio. My imagination went crazy in here! Kain and Ryan waited patiently for me while I disappeared up stairwells, down long spooky hallways, and back down a cool brass elevator. I half expected a voice to ask me, "Going down?"

Likely home to some ghostly visitors, it's quite old, and appears to have become more lovely with age. On the top floor, where I'm certain I wasn't supposed to venture, I came across a vintage photo from 1859 hanging on the wall (which I uploaded). It wasn't nearly as fancy then. The hotel looks more Victorian today, and has apparently been updated over the course of 130 years.

Some historic info via Wiki:

The Menger Hotel, located in downtown San Antonio, Texas, was built in 1859 (23 years after the fall of the adjacent Alamo) by William Menger. In 1898, Teddy Roosevelt used the bar to recruit Rough Riders which fought in Cuba in the Spanish-American War.

The Menger was San Antonio's most popular hotel in the 19th Century. O. Henry, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mae West, Babe Ruth, Oscar Wilde and others were known to frequent the bar and hotel, which was periodically enlarged and remodelled to accommodate more guests.

The hotel also holds the unofficial title of "The Most Haunted Hotel in Texas." (I knew it!) The Menger claims to host 32 different spirits including Richard King and Sallie White, a maid at the Menger who was murdered by her husband and buried at the hotel's expense.

Sketching at light speed

...So that I can take a quick nap before going to my internship this afternoon. All I needed for today is a light sketch to communicate what I'll be modeling in 3D. They wanted me to start with a relaxed pose.

I'll also be doing a stiff front and side view before I begin to model, but they'll be advising me on that part today. I'll probably go back and add lots of details to this one too.