These days though I get to do user experience design for websites for a living and work from home too so I get to work in my pyjamas FTW!

I like to think the stuff I learned about screens and all at film school has had some influence on the work I do now…

Tablet?
I was thinking of getting one for myself, another artist friend, and my sister and her husband who are animators (she’s into stop motion, he’s into cell)

~A~

— I had almost the same experience as a beginning English Major. Prof handed out cards for us to write our favorite authors on, then read them out loud.

Everyone Else: Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, etc. etc.
Me: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman!
*everyone stares and titters behind their hands.*
Me: *slinks down into her seat.*
Prof: “Well, ahem, popular fiction can be a valid area of study as well.” *stares at me from over his glasses.*

And an English Degree (or two…I actually went to grad school and got a Masters, mostly because I wasn’t ready to go to the real world yet) has left me equally qualified for asking “Do you want fries with that?” – I’m currently a secretary. And I call myself a freelance writer. Who sells things. Occasionally. At least a couple of times a year, if I actually finish something. If I’m lucky. Which I get paid for in copies.

It’s just funny that your initial experience was so close to mine, just switching the subject matter. I may have to do a response-blog-post about what I learned as an English major/grad student.

……

Anyway, as someone whose breadth of interests led to a kind of academic A.D.D., followed by finally settling on a highly specialized field with limited prospects, all I can say is, keep biting and scratching until the world submits to your demands ;D

You’re keen on The Lion King, how about Lilo and Stitch? I heard a lecture by Chris Sanders, one of the two directors of L&S. He had been developing the Stitch character for many years… and got the chance to take it to the big screen. He even performed the character’s voice in the movie! Who wouldn’t jump at the chance? They managed to make their movie mostly under the radar of the Disney executives, on a (relatively) small budget, so they did get to include a lot of pretty edgy story. However: when they were shown the Disneyland walkaround costumes of their characters, it suddenly hit home. Chris and Dean turned to each other with an “Oh God… it’s really not ours anymore is it?”
Those two guys are awesome, and I can hardly wait for their new one, “How To Train Your Dragon”.