I read a review of the new Rob Zombie Halloween movie that's out today and the reviewer said that the scariest thing he saw wasn't the movie itself, it was coming out and seeing a stroller by the door. He waited and saw some young parents with their three kids, the oldest being five, leaving the theater.
Now, the argument that will come up will be of the License to Breed variety, but I'd like to counter that with a Village of Loud Shaming argument that I just made up. Here's the idea. Rather than silently bemoan the wrongs of the world and write about them on your blog or make anonymous comments online or later tell your friends about it, take a stand right there and speak your mind. Tell someone who's doing the wrong that you disagree with them and next time you shouldn't do it.
Yes, that's hard and confrontational. But it's time we start not letting the socially retarded run the world any more. This goes for parents bringing their babies to horror movies and people suing restaurants for hot coffee spills all the way up to Presidents making unpopular choices. We have to stop being cows and take back our lives.
If you're taking your baby to a Rob Zombie movie, you really deserved to be shouted out of the theater. I don't care if you can't find a babysitter. If you can't, you don't go to the movies. You have to assume the responsibility that comes with being a parent. If you don't, and legally you can't lose your kids, well then socially we should be able to point fingers and belittle you until you are shamed into never doing it again. Can you imagine the effect that would have? No protracted legal battles, no waiting for a governmental mandate, just pure unadulterated mob rule. You bring a baby to a slasher flic and 150 people stand up and say, "Bad parent! Go see a cartoon! Get out of here. How could you treat your baby like that. Of all the nerve, are you daft? What kind of caregiver are you?" You think they'll ever do that again? Then, when the person sues the theater, the attorneys need to have the cahones to stand up and say, "No, this is stupid. You brought a baby to a horror movie, you should reported to CPS as it is. I won't take this case." And then when a lawyer DOES take the case - because one always will - the judge needs to slap that shit down with the condemnation of a thousand granite gavels.
Common sense needs to rule again. Simple sociality should not be left to the lowest common denominator. We need to rise up as a people and say, "We are not cattle!" Especially Americans. We do what we're told and we file lawsuits when we don't get our way. Convenience is king to us and we let it run our lives to ruin.
I'm not trying to be barbaric, I'm actually trying to be civil. I'm all for seeing to the welfare of our elderly and sick. Through no choice of their own they have been reduced and it's the mark of a good civilization that sees to the least of its civilians.
But not the stupid. And I don't mean low IQ, I mean irresponsible and insensitive.
I'm tired of paying the price for other people's stupidity. My insurance shouldn't be high because some jackhole got wasted and wrapped his penis-mobile around a light pole. Movie tickets shouldn't have to go up to cover litigation costs. Food prices shouldn't have to go up to cover legal fees because someone didn't cook their chicken properly.
I want to be nice and harmonious but at the same time I feel like looking around and saying, "You know what? No. You're a jackass. Think before you do something that dumb again." We need to understand that we live together and we will improve as a people when we can move forward together. Imagine the scenario of a friend at a party talking with a group of people and this person says they are thinking of getting back together with a crazy ex girlfriend. Think of the interventions people have with loved ones about booze and drugs. Those are the kinds of actions we should take. Band together as people, not white or Jewish or Christian or poor or famous or Malaysian or any qualifier, but as humans.
I feel like I'm talking to a 6 year old. We're smarter than this. You spill hot coffee on your nuts, suck it up and move on. You won't do it again, will you? Good for you, you've learned a lesson. Be an advanced mammal and look at the big picture. Use your gray matter and thumbs and stop being such a victim.
Maybe we should make a list of Common Sense Commandments. No religion here, just basic human interactions. Not a blind faith in untested absolutes, but a genuine belief through practice that humanity can rise above everything and interact on a base level so primitive that it transcends all other ideologies. Simple is better.
Wow. Sorry, went on there a bit.
Carry on.
14.9.07
13.9.07
What's up?
There's been a lot going on at the LIA Compound. I don't know what to say yet but let's just say it's good I have my drawing.
I have a synced up folder with a few of my long time, online comic book friends. We're using something called FolderShare. You designate a folder on your machine and everyone shares that virtual directory and can put files in there. The guys use it to show everyone what they're working on and then when they all Skype chat at night they pass sketches back and forth asking for input. It's a great idea and I'd probably be on with them more if I drew comic book stuff more - which I don't.
So I was looking through it last night and I realized that it's hard to be a mass media artist without having a lot of knowledge about the culture. The Heroforge guys are without a doubt some of the most talented and knowledgeable guys I know. Not only are they skilled artists, but they are masters of their chosen niche. They know a lot about comics, who's involved, what the current business practices and company happenings are and the current saturation of the genre in the public. Likewise, most of the people I know on Flickr who do more cartoony art seem to have this studied appreciation for their craft and a respect for the history from which the medium sprouts.
I've been interviewing people for the 100 Artists Project as a way to bolster the activity on the site; give potential artists and current contributors something to look forward to. But in reading the responses, I've come to a realization that I know very little about the field in which I claim to be a part. My influences are very Top 40 radio in comparison. The people I name as having an impact on my creativity list like a child's and it's very humbling and annoying.
Then I realized that it's that way for most of my life. My choice in music, my understanding of politics and movies and TV and technology. I don't feel steeped in anything. I'm not actively a guru or an Alpha Geek or a mentor or a schooled practitioner of anything. I know just enough to get by. I'm really good at faking it. If I know anything, it's how to assimilate. But that only gets me so far. Soon, I'm left spinning around, panicked and aimless, quickly researching topics in an effort not to fail. I'm like this at my job and in my hobbies. I tend to bite off more than I can chew and then hating myself for the results I turn out.
Part of this is motivation. I'm driven to complete the oddest and often times the most inconsequential things; collecting Lego, playing simple online games, drawing cartoon robots, making lists of things, catching up on old TV shows. I know I'm distracted easily and I have to get as much done or absorbed as quickly as I can because in no time I'll be off to something else.
I wish I wasn't like that. I wish I had the patience to appreciate the quiet and calm and rewarding road that is learning. I wish I had a schedule that allowed me to sit down with a book on Network Administration and a brain that would enjoy letting the facts settle into my head. I wish I knew more about cartoons and comic books and modern art. I wish I could name more (any) local bands or big names in the local art scene. I've got a million things going on and yet none of them feel fully realized or even more than tenuously imagined. I have good intentions, but I lack execution.
The other thing is, I'm 34. Some of this should have happened by now. I should be very good at something. I should have a degree or a license or major scholarly or technical accomplishment. People, who aren't my kids, should come to me seeking advice and I should have the answers for them. Shouldn't I? I hear people talk about music and I admire their in depth appreciation for bands I've never heard of, all the while knowing they know about my favorites. I hear people talk about artists from decades ago who started the movement or were seminal figures in the business and I have no idea what they're talking about, all the while knowing that my influences are pedestrian and superficial.
It's just something I think about when I'm hacking my way through these robot drawings. As much as I like doing them, I don't know if it's the drawing I like doing or the fact that people have noticed them. And that's a horrible realization; thinking that you'd rather be popular than accomplished and taking short cuts just to get your name out there and sacrificing the effort needed to be more solid in what you know and can do.
Welcome to my brain. I'm off to make another robot movie.
Carry on.
PS - The strip will resume next week.
9.9.07
7.9.07
6.9.07
LIA #3
First thing you might notice is that my character now has a beard. Well, I'd originally intended for him too, but I suppose in the first two strips he'd shaved for a job interview or something.
You'll notice G-man made it into the strip. He's taller than normal three year old.
Also, something weird with the art. I must not have tweaked the curves enough after I scanned it and I didn't notice it till later.
Night full of missteps. A client wanted an 8x10 robot of their son and for some dang reason I measured off 8x8. I told them that's why I drew cartoons of robots instead of building them. I hope I don't have to redraw it.
Carry on.
You'll notice G-man made it into the strip. He's taller than normal three year old.
Also, something weird with the art. I must not have tweaked the curves enough after I scanned it and I didn't notice it till later.
Night full of missteps. A client wanted an 8x10 robot of their son and for some dang reason I measured off 8x8. I told them that's why I drew cartoons of robots instead of building them. I hope I don't have to redraw it.
Carry on.
4.9.07
LIA #2
The tooncasting at ComicSpace works like a charm, so expect these up every Tuesday and Friday. If I get ahead of myself, I'll do them more frequently.
There's no RSS feed for the toon cast so I'll make a point to update the blog for all 6 of you guys who read it.
Carry on.
There's no RSS feed for the toon cast so I'll make a point to update the blog for all 6 of you guys who read it.
Carry on.
3.9.07
Everyday Italian
I officially have a celebrity crush.
This afternoon I'm working on a flushmount for Mrs. A and I have the TV on in the background as noise. I'm particular about background noise. It can't be insipid but it also can't be something I've already seen. This usually leaves out everything but the smart channels; TLC, The Science Channel, The History Channel, etc. How I ended up on the Food Network is anyone's guess, but the title "Everyday Italian" piqued my curiosity.
Man what a delight it turned out to be. First off, I got some great ideas for cooking some lamb and prosciutto hamburgers (I'm sure a vegetarian version, right?) and a way to make a nice cappuccino and chocolate drink. But most of the time I was gawking at the host.
Ah, Giada de Laurentiis, where have you been all my life. Oh right, Italy and California. Anyway, between the glittering white smile and the implied aroma of Italian cuisine, I didn't get any work done for about a half hour. Never has anyone made pea soup look so good to make and eat.
We all get a celebrity crush. I don't know why, but we all get one. I also don't know why I stumbled onto this one. Oh but a 4th generation Italian can dream, can't he? And can those dreams have extra virgin olive oil and a bit of thick cream?
Outstanding.
1.9.07
Stupid Frakkin Spammers
I got hit by this. It probably got my full Gmail contact list. If you get something from Quechup.com saying I sent it, I really didn't.
Story.
http://www.wisebread.com/extra-spam-hold-the-quechup
Carry on.
Story.
http://www.wisebread.com/extra-spam-hold-the-quechup
Carry on.
31.8.07
It Starts.
Atypical of me, I will not use this time to decry the horrible nature of the art in the first strip. I will just do better next time.
And so it begins. I've always, always, ALWAYS threatened/promised/yearned to do a comic strip but I've never really put much effort into developing a good bunch of characters. I'm sure they will change over time but it's better to get it started and make it work than sit on it and wonder what would have happened.
Updated Tuesdays and Fridays. I hope you enjoy it.
Carry on.
And so it begins. I've always, always, ALWAYS threatened/promised/yearned to do a comic strip but I've never really put much effort into developing a good bunch of characters. I'm sure they will change over time but it's better to get it started and make it work than sit on it and wonder what would have happened.
Updated Tuesdays and Fridays. I hope you enjoy it.
Carry on.
LOLcats #200
Adam Koford has put his Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #200 up for bid over on eBay. I've been bidding on it but I'm instantly out bid so someone really wants it. Last I checked it was up to $56 but don't be surprised that it hits $200 or more, especially if it gets listed on Boing Boing or Fark.
Go bid, see if you can get a great piece of art that's also a time capsule of internet meme glory.
Go bid, see if you can get a great piece of art that's also a time capsule of internet meme glory.
30.8.07
Long Weekend
So Mrs. A is going to Louisiana to get some AP shots and visit some folks she knows so I get the kids till Monday night. That's right, four full days of me and the offspring.
So my first act as reliable dad/husband is to sprain my ankle playing basketball. I play at lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I was just getting back into it after the last time I rolled my fool ankle. I'm super pissed. Playing ball is the one activity I don't think of as working out. I don't think of it as a chore and thus would do it every day if I could and it would undoubtedly be very good for me.
And it's not like I have weak ankles either. In fact, the last time I did this I was able to play another 30 minutes on a swollen ankle before finally giving in. They are hearty stems, I just have bad luck stepping on people's feet. I need better shoes I think.
Any crap, so at least tomorrow I'll be perched in my sittin' chair with this thing propped up just like you see it now, all nestled in Mrs. A's old CryoCuff, the thing she had when her ACL blew. It's a neat contraption. It's basically a two gallon container, like a water jug, with a hose at the bottom. The hose has clip valves and you put the other end in a knee brace that has a bladder. You fill the jug up with ice and a bit of water and then let it drain into the cuff. When the water isn't cold, you let it drain back into the jug to cool off with the ice, rinse and repeat. It's a site better than holding ice cubes in a washrag.
Now my problem is, I had a ton of work I wanted to do this weekend but I'm not sure I'll even be able to draw much as the drawing table is upstairs. I wanted to do LIA strips, robot portraits, more 700 robots and a flushmount for Mrs. A. Well, I've got four days. Bets on what I get done?
Carry on.
So my first act as reliable dad/husband is to sprain my ankle playing basketball. I play at lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I was just getting back into it after the last time I rolled my fool ankle. I'm super pissed. Playing ball is the one activity I don't think of as working out. I don't think of it as a chore and thus would do it every day if I could and it would undoubtedly be very good for me.
And it's not like I have weak ankles either. In fact, the last time I did this I was able to play another 30 minutes on a swollen ankle before finally giving in. They are hearty stems, I just have bad luck stepping on people's feet. I need better shoes I think.
Any crap, so at least tomorrow I'll be perched in my sittin' chair with this thing propped up just like you see it now, all nestled in Mrs. A's old CryoCuff, the thing she had when her ACL blew. It's a neat contraption. It's basically a two gallon container, like a water jug, with a hose at the bottom. The hose has clip valves and you put the other end in a knee brace that has a bladder. You fill the jug up with ice and a bit of water and then let it drain into the cuff. When the water isn't cold, you let it drain back into the jug to cool off with the ice, rinse and repeat. It's a site better than holding ice cubes in a washrag.
Now my problem is, I had a ton of work I wanted to do this weekend but I'm not sure I'll even be able to draw much as the drawing table is upstairs. I wanted to do LIA strips, robot portraits, more 700 robots and a flushmount for Mrs. A. Well, I've got four days. Bets on what I get done?
Carry on.
29.8.07
Core Ideals
If I were a politician, one of my absolute beliefs would be that a woman has the right to breast feed a baby anywhere and any time she choses. It's one of the things that truly gets on my last nerve to hear about establishments that go against their corporate policy and ask that mothers should cover themselves or the baby when they breast feed.
What gets me is how puritan we are as Americans, and I've beat this dead horse before. We've stigmatized and demonized breasts and nudity and sex to the point of sickness. The naked body is not evil. It's not a bad thing. I'm all in favor of decency - I don't need to see wangs and chungs scurrying around 24/7, but if a woman has to pop a tit to feed an infant I say let her. It's only distracting if you look directly at it, and if you're looking directly at it you're being lecherous and if you're being lecherous it's your own damn fault for having your sexual nature repressed. Don't blame a hungry baby because of your own puerile and ignorant inadequacies. I'd rather see 1,000 flushed and flustered prudes than 1 hungry kid.
Here's more fuel to the fire; this is an American problem. Well, almost. I've found it's an English-speaking world problem. Which makes sense. A lot of the ideas we get about shame, purity, sex and modesty came from England. In the end, people came to America not because they were religious radicals in the stereotypical sense of the word, but because they were puritans. The English were heathens compared to our forefathers and we tend to believe it the reverse, that the Pilgrims were somehow these wildchilds (wildchildren?) and were loose and lively and liberated. Not so.
However, the UK (including Scotland and Ireland) are just as repressed about women and their dual role as provider and companion as we are in the States. Countries like France, Germany, Italy seem to be more open to the idea, dare I say enlightened. People are confused when they are asked if it's ok to breast feed. Why wouldn't YOU feed YOUR baby? I don't know much about African, Latin, Middle Eastern or Asian sensibilities. Perhaps a reader could leave a comment about how breast feeding is appreciated or scorned in India or South Korea or Brazil or Israel. That would be positively worldly of you.
Mrs. A hasn't breast feed in over two years but the issue is still strong with me and the reason is the only people hurt by it are babies. Nature built mammals to feed their young and decency be damned. If babies weren't meant to be fed by a mother's breast, they would have been born in eggs and left to fend for themselves. Don't deny a baby the right to eat because you can't handle seeing a nipple. That's your problem, not the baby's. If a nipple makes you uncomfortable, YOU put a blanket over YOUR head. To me, you are the freak.
Carry on.
Oh yeah, I'm still planning on doing LIA strips. I've got a little notebook full of them that just have to get drawn. But I realized two things. Things are changing around the Austin household that could affect the characters, as they are based off our family. I'd better really like the characters because of something happens, I'd have to kill one of them off like in a soap opera. The other thing is, I'm still waiting to get a good scanner and the size I want to draw these so it's easy for me to do is bigger than the little scanner we have. So process and permanence are stalling my brain. I'm sure something will break through here soon.
Her lawyer wrote a letter to Thomas & King, the company that operates Applebee's in Central Kentucky. They got no response. After a second letter, a Thomas & King lawyer said the restaurant chain would consider keeping blankets in the restaurant so that breast-feeding women could cover themselves.The analogy used in the article was, "That's like telling Rosa Parks she still had to sit in the back of the bus, but we'll give her a blanket to make her more comfortable." It's more like telling her she can sit in the front, but she has to wear a mask and gloves so people can't see she's black. And it's probably not a good idea for a white woman to compare themselves to Rosa Parks - as a country we're not totally segregated yet.
What gets me is how puritan we are as Americans, and I've beat this dead horse before. We've stigmatized and demonized breasts and nudity and sex to the point of sickness. The naked body is not evil. It's not a bad thing. I'm all in favor of decency - I don't need to see wangs and chungs scurrying around 24/7, but if a woman has to pop a tit to feed an infant I say let her. It's only distracting if you look directly at it, and if you're looking directly at it you're being lecherous and if you're being lecherous it's your own damn fault for having your sexual nature repressed. Don't blame a hungry baby because of your own puerile and ignorant inadequacies. I'd rather see 1,000 flushed and flustered prudes than 1 hungry kid.
Here's more fuel to the fire; this is an American problem. Well, almost. I've found it's an English-speaking world problem. Which makes sense. A lot of the ideas we get about shame, purity, sex and modesty came from England. In the end, people came to America not because they were religious radicals in the stereotypical sense of the word, but because they were puritans. The English were heathens compared to our forefathers and we tend to believe it the reverse, that the Pilgrims were somehow these wildchilds (wildchildren?) and were loose and lively and liberated. Not so.
However, the UK (including Scotland and Ireland) are just as repressed about women and their dual role as provider and companion as we are in the States. Countries like France, Germany, Italy seem to be more open to the idea, dare I say enlightened. People are confused when they are asked if it's ok to breast feed. Why wouldn't YOU feed YOUR baby? I don't know much about African, Latin, Middle Eastern or Asian sensibilities. Perhaps a reader could leave a comment about how breast feeding is appreciated or scorned in India or South Korea or Brazil or Israel. That would be positively worldly of you.
Mrs. A hasn't breast feed in over two years but the issue is still strong with me and the reason is the only people hurt by it are babies. Nature built mammals to feed their young and decency be damned. If babies weren't meant to be fed by a mother's breast, they would have been born in eggs and left to fend for themselves. Don't deny a baby the right to eat because you can't handle seeing a nipple. That's your problem, not the baby's. If a nipple makes you uncomfortable, YOU put a blanket over YOUR head. To me, you are the freak.
Carry on.
Oh yeah, I'm still planning on doing LIA strips. I've got a little notebook full of them that just have to get drawn. But I realized two things. Things are changing around the Austin household that could affect the characters, as they are based off our family. I'd better really like the characters because of something happens, I'd have to kill one of them off like in a soap opera. The other thing is, I'm still waiting to get a good scanner and the size I want to draw these so it's easy for me to do is bigger than the little scanner we have. So process and permanence are stalling my brain. I'm sure something will break through here soon.
28.8.07
Thumbs up for school!
Today is LMA's first day of first grade.
The school was crowded as parents flooded the miniature parking lot. There was apparently a meet and greet for parents and kids and teachers some time last week but it was at 3pm and there's no way I'd have made it and no one told us about it anyway.
It was strange. After we registered, they didn't send us home with any information, nothing came in the mail, we didn't get a phone call. Nothing saying, "And there will be an introductory meeting on August whatever to meet the teacher, see your room, learn the rules, etc." We just showed up and there's a list on the door with the kids names and their teacher.
So we drop LMA off at her class. G-man is with us. She doesn't want to go in because everyone is already there. G-man doesn't want her to leave and he wants to go play on the playground. Mrs. A is crying - as to be expected. And of course I wasn't allowed to talk or touch her or she'd cry more. (In all honesty, I'm not allowed to do that anyway, but this time she had a good reason.)
But LMA settled down, backpack and all and last I saw her she was coloring. I hope she has a good day.
Carry on.
The school was crowded as parents flooded the miniature parking lot. There was apparently a meet and greet for parents and kids and teachers some time last week but it was at 3pm and there's no way I'd have made it and no one told us about it anyway.
It was strange. After we registered, they didn't send us home with any information, nothing came in the mail, we didn't get a phone call. Nothing saying, "And there will be an introductory meeting on August whatever to meet the teacher, see your room, learn the rules, etc." We just showed up and there's a list on the door with the kids names and their teacher.
So we drop LMA off at her class. G-man is with us. She doesn't want to go in because everyone is already there. G-man doesn't want her to leave and he wants to go play on the playground. Mrs. A is crying - as to be expected. And of course I wasn't allowed to talk or touch her or she'd cry more. (In all honesty, I'm not allowed to do that anyway, but this time she had a good reason.)
But LMA settled down, backpack and all and last I saw her she was coloring. I hope she has a good day.
Carry on.
26.8.07
End of Summer
Well, there are officially two days left of Summer Vacation. Lil Miss Austin starts 1st grade on Tuesday. This was Friday night. I let her stay up with me on the weekends. Most of the time I'm watching movies or drawing and she watches cartoons or plays her games online. We were watching Futurama till about 12:30. She didn't quite make it.
Yesterday I played football for the first time in probably 10 years. During the week I take my lunch hours every other day to drive over to Mrs. Austin's brother's office to play basketball with him and his coworkers. They decided to try football on the weekend so I drove out to Cedar Park to play.
Man am I old.
Shortly before I left, I squatted down to talk to G-man about something and I "messed up" my knee. I didn't think about it until I got to the high school and got out of the car and had to limp over to the field. Well, I didn't want to bail because it was pretty sad that I drive all that way and then not be able to play, so I was quarterback for the first few plays until my knee loosened up. It never really did.
So I gimped around as best I could. I could run full out with no problem, but it was the slow runs I had a problem with. I ended up scoring a couple touchdowns and getting an interception and throwing a touch down or two, but there's no glory in coming home beat like a prisoner of war. It was good exercise, that's for sure. It just reiterates the fact that I'm not young enough or in shape enough to do that very often. I'm hoping if I do basketball and this, maybe, three times a week it'll start being more effective and won't leave me laid up for two days icing joints and taking ibuprofen.
Plus, it's Texas in August, so it was 137°. I'm sure the headache I had was a bit of sunstroke.
Yeah I do this for fun.
So the rest of the day I had planned to draw and get some robots done and my LIA strips, but I was mostly hobbling around the house grumbling silently and trying to keep the kids off my knee.
Good times. Carry on.
Yesterday I played football for the first time in probably 10 years. During the week I take my lunch hours every other day to drive over to Mrs. Austin's brother's office to play basketball with him and his coworkers. They decided to try football on the weekend so I drove out to Cedar Park to play.
Man am I old.
Shortly before I left, I squatted down to talk to G-man about something and I "messed up" my knee. I didn't think about it until I got to the high school and got out of the car and had to limp over to the field. Well, I didn't want to bail because it was pretty sad that I drive all that way and then not be able to play, so I was quarterback for the first few plays until my knee loosened up. It never really did.
So I gimped around as best I could. I could run full out with no problem, but it was the slow runs I had a problem with. I ended up scoring a couple touchdowns and getting an interception and throwing a touch down or two, but there's no glory in coming home beat like a prisoner of war. It was good exercise, that's for sure. It just reiterates the fact that I'm not young enough or in shape enough to do that very often. I'm hoping if I do basketball and this, maybe, three times a week it'll start being more effective and won't leave me laid up for two days icing joints and taking ibuprofen.
Plus, it's Texas in August, so it was 137°. I'm sure the headache I had was a bit of sunstroke.
Yeah I do this for fun.
So the rest of the day I had planned to draw and get some robots done and my LIA strips, but I was mostly hobbling around the house grumbling silently and trying to keep the kids off my knee.
Good times. Carry on.
24.8.07
Seen over on Boing Boing. Glorifying Terrorism is an anthology from the UK of short sci-fi stories that...well...glorify terrorism. The book has been outlawed (and so has subsequently become hugely popular and sold out) because it violates the 2006 Terrorism Act.
If you don't have a copy of the book, you can hear one of the stories, The Sundial Brigade, read on Escape Pod.
Now, I'm not posting this because I'm a malcontent or anything. I'm just curious as to why the cover art is so horribly bad. You'd think something as controversial as a book decrying the merits of blowing yourself and other people to bits would have a better piece of art. This looks like a high school kid drew it.
I don't know. It doesn't make too worried about any uprisings when the art they use is so amateurish. Can the writing inside it be any better? Is the cause for alarm really that necessary? I realize judging a book by its cover is the base reason there's conflict between the West and the MidEast, but this books cover is crap. It's as if the authors got a hit on craigslist for their ad needing an artist. You know the ones: Can't pay up front, proceeds of the book, looking for someone in college, boost your portfolio, must work on spec, etc.
That explains it. Nevermind.
21.8.07
Robot Drawing News
The folks at Robogames.net were pretty happy with their drawings. I'm glad people like them as I have a good time doing them. They take about 20 mins to draw and about an hour to get online and into a video so that's a good block of time I can set aside for myself. I put my head phones on or have a bad old movie playing on TCM. It's nice.
Last night after that article was posted I got another order from some folks working with real robots at MIT. (I'm guessing it's MIT, that's what the email address said.) Anyway, the client says they work on writing algorithms for grasping to be used on a Barrett Arm. The Barrett Arm (or Barrent WAM) is a commercially available arm used in space exploration, manufacturing and surgical applications.
I should say that robots built for art and sport are no less real than those built for moon rovers or brain surgery. Both require a level of skill and talent that I don't have. So I draw cartoons about them.
Their robot's name is Lludd, after a Welsh folk hero who lost his arm in battle and had it replaced by a silver one.
I know you can't see me, but I did a happy dance when I got the email. I know it's not like they wanted to pay me tons of money, but the idea that someone working with robots wanted one somehow makes it all worth while. Between that and the Robogames folks, I think there's a niche.
Carry on.
Last night after that article was posted I got another order from some folks working with real robots at MIT. (I'm guessing it's MIT, that's what the email address said.) Anyway, the client says they work on writing algorithms for grasping to be used on a Barrett Arm. The Barrett Arm (or Barrent WAM) is a commercially available arm used in space exploration, manufacturing and surgical applications.
I should say that robots built for art and sport are no less real than those built for moon rovers or brain surgery. Both require a level of skill and talent that I don't have. So I draw cartoons about them.
Their robot's name is Lludd, after a Welsh folk hero who lost his arm in battle and had it replaced by a silver one.
I know you can't see me, but I did a happy dance when I got the email. I know it's not like they wanted to pay me tons of money, but the idea that someone working with robots wanted one somehow makes it all worth while. Between that and the Robogames folks, I think there's a niche.
Carry on.
20.8.07
Three Robots and a Zebra
Mrs. A took the kids to the Wildlife Safari yesterday. I don't know how many of you remember the last time the family went there, but it involved an aggressive zebra and lots of crying.
Funny thing, it happened again. This time, the zebras not only ate a whole bag of food, but they also got Lil Miss Austin's dress and the steering wheel.
Also, there's a hilarious sequence of pictures from before they even arrived. It's the first 5 or 6 in the set, you have to see them in order. G-man is an hysterical dude.
While they were gone I was able to knock out some artwork for the commission I got for the Robowars people. I think they turned out pretty well.
Carry on.
Funny thing, it happened again. This time, the zebras not only ate a whole bag of food, but they also got Lil Miss Austin's dress and the steering wheel.
Also, there's a hilarious sequence of pictures from before they even arrived. It's the first 5 or 6 in the set, you have to see them in order. G-man is an hysterical dude.
While they were gone I was able to knock out some artwork for the commission I got for the Robowars people. I think they turned out pretty well.
Carry on.
19.8.07
New Products
There was a request for tote bags and mugs. When I have more promotional images, I'll make more shirts and mugs and postcards. If you, fine reader, want something specific just let me know and I'll set it up.
create & buy custom products at Zazzle
create & buy custom products at Zazzle
18.8.07
Comic Updates
So I think I've got the toon thing figured out. Comicspace has a feature called Tooncasting in which you can upload pictures to a gallery and if you have Tooncasting enabled, it generates some java script that people can use to display the strip on their site. I tweaked my Blogger site here to include an element at the top of the page. As soon as I have some strips to work with, and I can upload them to Comicspace, I can put my own code into that element. The cool thing is I can set them to show up at a certain date. So let's say I plan on updating every Tuesday and Friday, but I get a bunch done at once. I can upload them and say not to make it available until later, almost ensuring I'll update when I say I will.
I'm excited.
Another bit of exciting news is I got an order for three robots from RoboGames, formerly the ROBOlympics or The Robot Society of America. It's a pretty big thing for robot designers - I believe a lot of Battle Bot guys came from this group. I hope they like the drawings and maybe more people will see them and want one for themselves. That also means I have to get cracking. They don't take long to draw (about 20 minutes) but I want to again do videos and that takes a bit of time.
Carry on.
I'm excited.
Another bit of exciting news is I got an order for three robots from RoboGames, formerly the ROBOlympics or The Robot Society of America. It's a pretty big thing for robot designers - I believe a lot of Battle Bot guys came from this group. I hope they like the drawings and maybe more people will see them and want one for themselves. That also means I have to get cracking. They don't take long to draw (about 20 minutes) but I want to again do videos and that takes a bit of time.
Carry on.
17.8.07
Life In Austin
Ok, so I'm going to be playing with the site a lot. I've got an idea on how I want to draw the strip and rather than make the strip fit the site, I'd rather make it easier on myself in the long run but making the site fit the strip. So, the current theme will probably be changed a lot. It'll all be running on Blogger so I'm constrained to their archiving and labeling and stuff. We'll just have to see how it works. I'd like to be able to have the strip be separate from the blog, but I don't know if that's possible.
I've done a couple already and I think I'll be able to do this twice a week. Let's see how long it goes on.
Carry on, smartly.
I've done a couple already and I think I'll be able to do this twice a week. Let's see how long it goes on.
Carry on, smartly.
16.8.07
Life In Austin Promo
Ok, so I cheated a bit by using the Simpsonize Me thing to make the me version, but I thought it'd be funny.
So yeah, I'm doing some character sketches now and a few starter strips for a comic called, naturally, Life In Austin. It's about a freelance artist and his family which includes a robot he bought to help around the house as well as guests from other net memes. You should start seeing these soon.
So yeah, I'm doing some character sketches now and a few starter strips for a comic called, naturally, Life In Austin. It's about a freelance artist and his family which includes a robot he bought to help around the house as well as guests from other net memes. You should start seeing these soon.
Wizard World 2007
This is a shot of my buddies Jeremy Dale, Loston Wallace and Nate Lovett at this year's Wizard World Chicago comic convention.
I've only been to two Chicago cons and two San Diego cons in my life. I've been to another smattering of small press expos, local sci-fi conventions and art fairs. Conventions are a weird animal for me. I like these guys and the other folks I've known for a few years like Shane Peters and Dash Martin, but I've always felt like an outsider because I wasn't that into comics.
By "into" comics I mean steeped. Starting from even my early days back in college of collecting comics, it was superficial at best. I'm the same age as these guys (older that most actually) but I didn't grow up on comics books like they did. Loston especially has this knowledge of comic lore and creator history that needs to be bottled and archived at the Smithsonian. And all of them want to be, and for the most part are, comic book artists. Dash, Jeremy, Nate and Shane all got call backs from Marvel or DC this past weekend. They've been doing their own books or indie press books for some time now, but there's a good chance that most of them will be doing work for the big two very soon.
I'm proud of them, but I'm also a bit sad. I'd like to go back to Chicago (yes honey, alone) but it would be solely to hang out with these guys and that's an expensive weekend just to see some people you only know from the internet. I don't know what to do with my art lately, but it hasn't been comic books. I don't have the time any more to do anything that extensive and I can feel another wave of people leaving me behind as I sit at work doodling.
As I look back to the last time I went, 2005, I was surprised how much I actually didn't like being there. I liked talking with and hanging out with these guys, but the rest of it seemed like a haze or a fitful dream. I mean, I know I'm a bit of a geek, but the people there were uber-geeks and I can't tell even now if I was sad for them or jealous of them. They were in their element and I wasn't, I was trying really hard to be included and it didn't work.
Jeremy works very hard at what he does. He's like any of the other artists I admire. He draws for 17 hours a day. It's how he makes a living. He draws commissions for people and works on licensed projects for retailers. He just worked on a project for a GI Joe toy line that will be released with a comic book that has circulation 5x that of just a regular title. It was good money and it got him visibility. Loston's doing much of the same work for DC, some licensed projects. Shane and Dash have been stalwart Image padewans for years and Nate has his own comic, Xombie, already out.
These guys have really made it.
You'll notice I'm a little angry about it. We all didn't start drawing together, we weren't in school together or anything, but especially Jeremy and Dash and Shane I've known for years. I've know that they weren't always good. They had to learn and get better and hone their skills, just like anyone. Back in the day I would have considered myself a decent, comparable artist. I would have even said I was as good or better than these guys - at the time. There were things I was doing that were different and I thought more artistically challenging but it was all in the name of being seen as a comic book artist.
The trouble was, I made different choices. I won't say "wrong" choices, but I made different choices and at some point I didn't make any choices at all, I just let people decide for me. Instead of going to San Diego for a third time I came to visit my soon to be wife in Texas. Instead of pushing hard to get on with a local Houston comic company I spent time playing video games with a bunch techs at a day trading company. I had a window of opportunity somewhere around 1999-2000 where I could have said, "I'm going to be a comic book artist and I'll work my ass off and hope it starts paying the bills."
But I didn't. You know why? Because it would have not paid the bills. The job I had at the time was brainless and tumultuous but it was good money. We lived in Houston and we had only one car and we had to pay for it and rent and if I'd have chosen "artist" over "IT monkey" I don't think we would have made it. It's no one's fault either, it's just the way it happened.
Then we moved to Austin and I had another small window of opportunity before our firstborn came along. We'd moved out because I got a job offer (doing more tech support) and Mrs. A got on with Dell. We were making decent money and I actually had a plan that if Mrs. A moved up in the company enough and made a decent wage, I could quit and focus on art. Well, that never came. She became really disillusioned with Dell and sales in general and she'd eventually quit. Between maternity leaves and layoffs in which she'd watch entire teams dissolve around her, it was only a matter of time before she grew tired of the crap and had to get out. Luckily she had her photography.
And that's where we are today. As of now, Mrs. A works 5 jobs, all having to do with her photography. She works her ass off and barely makes enough to pay bills. Her latest job should pay decently enough that she can not work as hard, but with having the kids with her all day (the 6th job) it's a wonder she can do anything. I'm just as envious of her as I am of my comic buddies. I don't know what drive they have to take that chance and say damn the torpedoes, but I don't have it - and if I did it's gone.
I've found a good niche for now I suppose. Cartooning is a good way to get something done that doesn't take a lot of time. Lettering a comic book is nice in that it makes it finally look like a comic book page, but it doesn't take long to do and doesn't require much effort. I've been able to get some commissions and hopefully that will lead to more, but there will be a critical mass where I can't squeeze anything into my day any more. I can't bring a giant drawing board and a bunch of tools to work and spend 10 hours drawing in order to get these fantastic pages done. Nor can I do 20 cartoons in a single sitting. It's frustrating but in the end I have to look out for more people than just me. If I were single or childless it might be different. Mrs. A and I could live in a hovel and still be ok. With all her work she's hardly home anyway. But until the kids are older, I have to make sure their needs are met first and if that means sacrificing my happiness, then so be it.
The high point of my artistic "career" as been self publishing a half-assed drawn comic book. It was lettered in Flash and I spent $400 getting 100 copies of which I sold maybe 10 and gave away close to 50. It's odd that given that's the best I've been able to do, I don't know that I'd want to do it again. So what else is there?
Carry on.
I've only been to two Chicago cons and two San Diego cons in my life. I've been to another smattering of small press expos, local sci-fi conventions and art fairs. Conventions are a weird animal for me. I like these guys and the other folks I've known for a few years like Shane Peters and Dash Martin, but I've always felt like an outsider because I wasn't that into comics.
By "into" comics I mean steeped. Starting from even my early days back in college of collecting comics, it was superficial at best. I'm the same age as these guys (older that most actually) but I didn't grow up on comics books like they did. Loston especially has this knowledge of comic lore and creator history that needs to be bottled and archived at the Smithsonian. And all of them want to be, and for the most part are, comic book artists. Dash, Jeremy, Nate and Shane all got call backs from Marvel or DC this past weekend. They've been doing their own books or indie press books for some time now, but there's a good chance that most of them will be doing work for the big two very soon.
I'm proud of them, but I'm also a bit sad. I'd like to go back to Chicago (yes honey, alone) but it would be solely to hang out with these guys and that's an expensive weekend just to see some people you only know from the internet. I don't know what to do with my art lately, but it hasn't been comic books. I don't have the time any more to do anything that extensive and I can feel another wave of people leaving me behind as I sit at work doodling.
As I look back to the last time I went, 2005, I was surprised how much I actually didn't like being there. I liked talking with and hanging out with these guys, but the rest of it seemed like a haze or a fitful dream. I mean, I know I'm a bit of a geek, but the people there were uber-geeks and I can't tell even now if I was sad for them or jealous of them. They were in their element and I wasn't, I was trying really hard to be included and it didn't work.
Jeremy works very hard at what he does. He's like any of the other artists I admire. He draws for 17 hours a day. It's how he makes a living. He draws commissions for people and works on licensed projects for retailers. He just worked on a project for a GI Joe toy line that will be released with a comic book that has circulation 5x that of just a regular title. It was good money and it got him visibility. Loston's doing much of the same work for DC, some licensed projects. Shane and Dash have been stalwart Image padewans for years and Nate has his own comic, Xombie, already out.
These guys have really made it.
You'll notice I'm a little angry about it. We all didn't start drawing together, we weren't in school together or anything, but especially Jeremy and Dash and Shane I've known for years. I've know that they weren't always good. They had to learn and get better and hone their skills, just like anyone. Back in the day I would have considered myself a decent, comparable artist. I would have even said I was as good or better than these guys - at the time. There were things I was doing that were different and I thought more artistically challenging but it was all in the name of being seen as a comic book artist.
The trouble was, I made different choices. I won't say "wrong" choices, but I made different choices and at some point I didn't make any choices at all, I just let people decide for me. Instead of going to San Diego for a third time I came to visit my soon to be wife in Texas. Instead of pushing hard to get on with a local Houston comic company I spent time playing video games with a bunch techs at a day trading company. I had a window of opportunity somewhere around 1999-2000 where I could have said, "I'm going to be a comic book artist and I'll work my ass off and hope it starts paying the bills."
But I didn't. You know why? Because it would have not paid the bills. The job I had at the time was brainless and tumultuous but it was good money. We lived in Houston and we had only one car and we had to pay for it and rent and if I'd have chosen "artist" over "IT monkey" I don't think we would have made it. It's no one's fault either, it's just the way it happened.
Then we moved to Austin and I had another small window of opportunity before our firstborn came along. We'd moved out because I got a job offer (doing more tech support) and Mrs. A got on with Dell. We were making decent money and I actually had a plan that if Mrs. A moved up in the company enough and made a decent wage, I could quit and focus on art. Well, that never came. She became really disillusioned with Dell and sales in general and she'd eventually quit. Between maternity leaves and layoffs in which she'd watch entire teams dissolve around her, it was only a matter of time before she grew tired of the crap and had to get out. Luckily she had her photography.
And that's where we are today. As of now, Mrs. A works 5 jobs, all having to do with her photography. She works her ass off and barely makes enough to pay bills. Her latest job should pay decently enough that she can not work as hard, but with having the kids with her all day (the 6th job) it's a wonder she can do anything. I'm just as envious of her as I am of my comic buddies. I don't know what drive they have to take that chance and say damn the torpedoes, but I don't have it - and if I did it's gone.
I've found a good niche for now I suppose. Cartooning is a good way to get something done that doesn't take a lot of time. Lettering a comic book is nice in that it makes it finally look like a comic book page, but it doesn't take long to do and doesn't require much effort. I've been able to get some commissions and hopefully that will lead to more, but there will be a critical mass where I can't squeeze anything into my day any more. I can't bring a giant drawing board and a bunch of tools to work and spend 10 hours drawing in order to get these fantastic pages done. Nor can I do 20 cartoons in a single sitting. It's frustrating but in the end I have to look out for more people than just me. If I were single or childless it might be different. Mrs. A and I could live in a hovel and still be ok. With all her work she's hardly home anyway. But until the kids are older, I have to make sure their needs are met first and if that means sacrificing my happiness, then so be it.
The high point of my artistic "career" as been self publishing a half-assed drawn comic book. It was lettered in Flash and I spent $400 getting 100 copies of which I sold maybe 10 and gave away close to 50. It's odd that given that's the best I've been able to do, I don't know that I'd want to do it again. So what else is there?
Carry on.
12.8.07
Enough Already
We decided to go out to see Mrs. A's sister and her family after all. We really like going out there but our illness was keeping us from thinking we were actually going.
Some time late Friday night or early Saturday morning we bit the bullet and packed the kids and drove out. It wasn't a bad drive, but it was long. Sitting in a car for almost four hours while you're sick makes it seem twice as long. You can't get comfortable and the task of keeping two young kids in check and happy is draining.
But we made it and it was a fairly good time. I didn't get nearly as drunk as I wanted. It was Mrs. A's birthday weekend so they had a cake and we had lots of wine and beer. The kids played like unleashed banshees. And there was a puppy involved.
The low point for me came early in the reverie. I was sent on run to the convenience store shortly after we arrived. I started coughing a bit on the way over, then more as I was checking out, then really bad back in the car. I had such a coughing fit that I threw up all over myself. I hadn't been drinking, I wasn't nauseated, I had just coughed so hard my gullet couldn't handle it. That was fun. I had to go back and change clothes and explain what happened. Even though I wasn't sick before, afterward my stomach was touch and go. I couldn't drink any alcohol and even food was a problem. Plus I think I have a tumor behind my right eyebrow or just a very problematic sinus cavity and it flared up nicely.
Mrs. A didn't have any problems. She was having a blast. There was a dogpile involving her, three small kids and a puppy. She wore some kind of Seussian antlers and she had to blow out trick candles. She took a lot of pictures, laughed, danced and just enjoyed being around her people.
And as always we were stupid and decided to drive home at 2am. Every time we go see her sister, we always get out there late and end up not staying as long as we should. It makes them feel bad and us feel worse. I think ideally we'd like to drive out first thing Saturday morning or even Friday night and then either get a cheap close hotel or just crash at their place until Sunday evening. This time, however, we just weren't feeling well enough to prolong the fun. We'd tried to have all the kids go to bed on palettes, but they outlasted our attempts and dug deep into reserves of childhood energy. The eldest girl actually slept for a couple hours and was really upset when she woke back up and found out we were leaving. She's totally cool, they all are.
As of this writing, both Mrs. A and I are still unwillingly clinging to our varied and persistent symptoms. We got home about 5 am and she and Lil Miss Austin slept till almost 11. G-Man tried to wake up at 7 and I had to march him, bleary-eyed and grumbling (me not him) back to his bed. We each got a couple more hours of fitful sleep but then he was up for good by 9.
Everyone tried to nap off an on during the day and the sniffles returned and the coughing returned and the headaches and painful joints returned. The kids seem fine, but Mrs. A and I have resentful adult bodies that just seem happier when they are only half-assed fighting an infection. We're so loaded up on medicine it's a wonder we're able to drive.
My ribs hurt from coughing.
We're going back out to Houston in a couple weeks I'm sure to try again. I seriously hope we're done with this gunk by then. My friend Len over at Jawbone knows what I'm talking about. He's been dealing with the "tail end" of a cold for about three months.
FUN!
Carry on.
Some time late Friday night or early Saturday morning we bit the bullet and packed the kids and drove out. It wasn't a bad drive, but it was long. Sitting in a car for almost four hours while you're sick makes it seem twice as long. You can't get comfortable and the task of keeping two young kids in check and happy is draining.
But we made it and it was a fairly good time. I didn't get nearly as drunk as I wanted. It was Mrs. A's birthday weekend so they had a cake and we had lots of wine and beer. The kids played like unleashed banshees. And there was a puppy involved.
The low point for me came early in the reverie. I was sent on run to the convenience store shortly after we arrived. I started coughing a bit on the way over, then more as I was checking out, then really bad back in the car. I had such a coughing fit that I threw up all over myself. I hadn't been drinking, I wasn't nauseated, I had just coughed so hard my gullet couldn't handle it. That was fun. I had to go back and change clothes and explain what happened. Even though I wasn't sick before, afterward my stomach was touch and go. I couldn't drink any alcohol and even food was a problem. Plus I think I have a tumor behind my right eyebrow or just a very problematic sinus cavity and it flared up nicely.
Mrs. A didn't have any problems. She was having a blast. There was a dogpile involving her, three small kids and a puppy. She wore some kind of Seussian antlers and she had to blow out trick candles. She took a lot of pictures, laughed, danced and just enjoyed being around her people.
And as always we were stupid and decided to drive home at 2am. Every time we go see her sister, we always get out there late and end up not staying as long as we should. It makes them feel bad and us feel worse. I think ideally we'd like to drive out first thing Saturday morning or even Friday night and then either get a cheap close hotel or just crash at their place until Sunday evening. This time, however, we just weren't feeling well enough to prolong the fun. We'd tried to have all the kids go to bed on palettes, but they outlasted our attempts and dug deep into reserves of childhood energy. The eldest girl actually slept for a couple hours and was really upset when she woke back up and found out we were leaving. She's totally cool, they all are.
As of this writing, both Mrs. A and I are still unwillingly clinging to our varied and persistent symptoms. We got home about 5 am and she and Lil Miss Austin slept till almost 11. G-Man tried to wake up at 7 and I had to march him, bleary-eyed and grumbling (me not him) back to his bed. We each got a couple more hours of fitful sleep but then he was up for good by 9.
Everyone tried to nap off an on during the day and the sniffles returned and the coughing returned and the headaches and painful joints returned. The kids seem fine, but Mrs. A and I have resentful adult bodies that just seem happier when they are only half-assed fighting an infection. We're so loaded up on medicine it's a wonder we're able to drive.
My ribs hurt from coughing.
We're going back out to Houston in a couple weeks I'm sure to try again. I seriously hope we're done with this gunk by then. My friend Len over at Jawbone knows what I'm talking about. He's been dealing with the "tail end" of a cold for about three months.
FUN!
Carry on.
10.8.07
Sick & Tired
So whatever we got this week has really knocked us all out. Mrs. A is absolutely miserable and I'm at work now in a barely conscious state of uncontageous numb. Our HR office has some over the counter stuff for headaches and sniffles and such and I pilfered as much as I could to get me through the day. I'm on my 5th nose and it's already peeling again.
The kids seem to be fairing a bit better. LMA has been sleeping a lot (but I think she's growing a bit) and G-man hasn't missed a beat. At most he sniffs once in a while. I'm kind of pissed because we'd planned on going out to see Mrs. A's family this weekend for her birthday but I don't know if it's worth getting everyone sick. We'd been so looking forward to it, I don't know now.
I stumbled upon this while going through my RSS feeds. Apparently this retired guy is assembling links to 1700 web comics. I didn't see ASJ listed in there, but I think he was looking at more traditional strip type cartoons. ASJ is more super hero, graphic novel type work. Anyway, I don't think he was doing it to become a web comic portal either. In fact, after reading the site, I'm not sure why he was doing it other than maybe he's a bit crazy and has a lot of free time. (For instance, he says it takes him eight hours to make 12 links. I think he's making life too hard on himself, but it's his obsession, not mine.)
What it illustrates to me, though, is there's a lot of crap out there. I stopped by a good number of these - a few I read already - and for the most part, web comics seem to be 80% idea, 15% reliable updates and 5% artistic ability. The few gems you see are the exceptions to this and tweak the art quite a lot, but then they only come out twice a week instead of every day. Unless your whole job is making a comic, you're going to find the easiest way to do things, even if that means taking the same pictures of dinosaurs and adding witty text.
This posits a bit of a paradox for me. I believe I have an artistic quality that would make cartoon strip creation a natural fit, but I don't have the time to make it an every day event. Part of building an audience is saying you will update at certain intervals and those are always kept. Several comics pride themselves on having gone years without missing an update. With the advantage of some back end scripting, as long as you do your work ahead of the queue, you'll always publish on time. The trick is to find out what that time frame is. Can you do three strips a day? A week? To me the hardest part would be the content and writing, not the art itself.
This doesn't get me any closer to actually making anything. I personally don't know anyone making a strip right now. I read a few, but I don't frequently talk with the creators. The people I do know are doing their own thing either with commissioned art, freelance illustration, graphic design or comic books. It might be good for me to stop trying to follow these people and do something on my own...
...using robots, hoboes, zombies and pirates of course.
Carry on.
The kids seem to be fairing a bit better. LMA has been sleeping a lot (but I think she's growing a bit) and G-man hasn't missed a beat. At most he sniffs once in a while. I'm kind of pissed because we'd planned on going out to see Mrs. A's family this weekend for her birthday but I don't know if it's worth getting everyone sick. We'd been so looking forward to it, I don't know now.
I stumbled upon this while going through my RSS feeds. Apparently this retired guy is assembling links to 1700 web comics. I didn't see ASJ listed in there, but I think he was looking at more traditional strip type cartoons. ASJ is more super hero, graphic novel type work. Anyway, I don't think he was doing it to become a web comic portal either. In fact, after reading the site, I'm not sure why he was doing it other than maybe he's a bit crazy and has a lot of free time. (For instance, he says it takes him eight hours to make 12 links. I think he's making life too hard on himself, but it's his obsession, not mine.)What it illustrates to me, though, is there's a lot of crap out there. I stopped by a good number of these - a few I read already - and for the most part, web comics seem to be 80% idea, 15% reliable updates and 5% artistic ability. The few gems you see are the exceptions to this and tweak the art quite a lot, but then they only come out twice a week instead of every day. Unless your whole job is making a comic, you're going to find the easiest way to do things, even if that means taking the same pictures of dinosaurs and adding witty text.
This posits a bit of a paradox for me. I believe I have an artistic quality that would make cartoon strip creation a natural fit, but I don't have the time to make it an every day event. Part of building an audience is saying you will update at certain intervals and those are always kept. Several comics pride themselves on having gone years without missing an update. With the advantage of some back end scripting, as long as you do your work ahead of the queue, you'll always publish on time. The trick is to find out what that time frame is. Can you do three strips a day? A week? To me the hardest part would be the content and writing, not the art itself.
This doesn't get me any closer to actually making anything. I personally don't know anyone making a strip right now. I read a few, but I don't frequently talk with the creators. The people I do know are doing their own thing either with commissioned art, freelance illustration, graphic design or comic books. It might be good for me to stop trying to follow these people and do something on my own...
...using robots, hoboes, zombies and pirates of course.
Carry on.
8.8.07
Back in the Saddle
After that last pity post I thought it'd be better to just get my ass back to work. I finished lettering a book for Daniel Cox, a UK writer of some pop sci-fi and urban books (really worth checking out,) and I've got another lettering gig to get through. Dan's stuff required a lot of thinking and trying new things, it wasn't traditional. It took a while to get done right, I hope he's happy with the work. This new gig is the same number of pages, but doesn't seem to be as challenging, it's more traditional, shouldn't take but a couple days.
After that I have to get a flushmount for Mrs. A done. Flushmounts are a weird animal. They're relatively easy to do, the hard part is getting all the 70-100 pictures out of sometimes 2,000 raw images. After that it's just a matter of assembling the pictures more or less in the same format time after time.
I've also got some more robots to scan and a few other drawings to get started. A fellow stationed in the Middle East contacted me to do a commission for him as well but that won't be until October.
But right now I'm recovering from a wicked head cold. Apparently one of the kids picked up something when they were at the doctor's office and gave it to both me and Mrs. A. I left work early yesterday and I'm at home now. I spent all night in an Advil Cold-n-Sinus induced stupor, unable to fall asleep. Mrs. A spent yesterday in similar misery, barely able to watch the kids and work. Today I'm a bit better, but still weak, achy, stuffed up and coughing. I'm truly amazed at how much snot my head can produce. We were out of tissue so I was carrying a roll of TP around with me to keep blowing my nose and plugging it when it just decided to leak. In about 6 hours I ran out of that roll and had to get a new one.
It's odd that I've suddenly found a bit of motivation just as my body starts battling an invasion.
I've also decided to possibly do some interviews for the 100 Artists Project. Probably be a good addition to the site and give some folks some exposure. The initial push from Drawn! has dropped off and so far we're up to 64 drawings. It's an impressive feat, but we're still short. I'm still a bit sad that all the people on PJ that signed up haven't come through. I shouldn't be surprised, it's like rooting for your home team that you know has a losing record. You know you're going to be let down, but you cheer them on anyway.
So I'm drinking fluids and watching CNN now and I don't expect to move a lot until this cold goes away - which I hope is soon.
Carry on.
After that I have to get a flushmount for Mrs. A done. Flushmounts are a weird animal. They're relatively easy to do, the hard part is getting all the 70-100 pictures out of sometimes 2,000 raw images. After that it's just a matter of assembling the pictures more or less in the same format time after time.
I've also got some more robots to scan and a few other drawings to get started. A fellow stationed in the Middle East contacted me to do a commission for him as well but that won't be until October.
But right now I'm recovering from a wicked head cold. Apparently one of the kids picked up something when they were at the doctor's office and gave it to both me and Mrs. A. I left work early yesterday and I'm at home now. I spent all night in an Advil Cold-n-Sinus induced stupor, unable to fall asleep. Mrs. A spent yesterday in similar misery, barely able to watch the kids and work. Today I'm a bit better, but still weak, achy, stuffed up and coughing. I'm truly amazed at how much snot my head can produce. We were out of tissue so I was carrying a roll of TP around with me to keep blowing my nose and plugging it when it just decided to leak. In about 6 hours I ran out of that roll and had to get a new one.
It's odd that I've suddenly found a bit of motivation just as my body starts battling an invasion.
I've also decided to possibly do some interviews for the 100 Artists Project. Probably be a good addition to the site and give some folks some exposure. The initial push from Drawn! has dropped off and so far we're up to 64 drawings. It's an impressive feat, but we're still short. I'm still a bit sad that all the people on PJ that signed up haven't come through. I shouldn't be surprised, it's like rooting for your home team that you know has a losing record. You know you're going to be let down, but you cheer them on anyway.
So I'm drinking fluids and watching CNN now and I don't expect to move a lot until this cold goes away - which I hope is soon.
Carry on.
2.8.07
What Happened?
I'm performing my administrative duties on Penciljack today and something hits me. I don't care about comic books any more.
I don't care who's drawing them, who's writing them. I don't care about web comics or comics being made into movies. I don't care about the theories and studies of graphic novels. I don't care about comic books being seen as a cultural barometer. I don't want to know what Wolverine or Iron Man or Hulk are doing. I don't even care about the stories I've come up with. I don't want to make them into comic books.
At least right now.
I came to this realization a couple months ago when being at the grand opening of a local comic store on Free Comic Book Day sparked absolutely no interest. It rekindled no love. Last night I was finishing up this comic panel for a client when I realized that I have no love for it. Creativity seems kind of a chore lately. I'm supposed to be helping run the ASJ41 webcomic and yet I can't bring myself to update the production list. I've got a smattering of my own strip ideas, uncolored robots, undrawn hoboes, and myriad story ideas waiting to be realized and yet I don't want to do anything. I don't feel like drawing, I don't feel like writing, I don't even feel like watching TV.
Must be the middle of summer.
I don't mind picking up commissions and will gladly knock them out when they come up. I like getting paid - finally getting paid - for something I like doing. Maybe the remuneration is causing my muse to ebb. I'm waiting for people to tell me what they want rather than doing things for myself.
As with the 100 Artists Project, I'm very in tune with the idea of starting something and then just watching it evolve. I've been at the helm of so many projects, most of which never amount to anything, that I think I'm burning myself out. I see people like Len and Adam and Eduardo constantly drawing and being innovative and productive and I get a mixed sense of "Not now" and "Why bother."
Here's some of the projects I'm working on or ideas I've had:
* Doing a sketchbook full of robots, seven of them adding up to 700 total drawings and then selling the sketchbooks
* T-shirts showing caution sign type figures playing childhood games.
* Make a coloring book of robots.
* Make more robot t-shirts.
* Do a second issue of the comic book I started years ago.
* Do a comic strip based on the life of an artist who has a robot best friend.
* A Doctor Who "Time War" comic or script.
* A Fifth Element prequel script.
* More customized cartoon portraits; robots, faeries, elves, pirates, whatever.
* The PJ Member Poster
* The ASJ webcomic production
* The PJU webcomic
* Writing an episode for ASJ.
These are just a handful of things that rattle around in my head. They'll change from week to week. This time last year I was heavy into Albatross 18, so much so I was designing a character and sketching out course designs. Since then I haven't even played the game. I don't know if it's a focus thing or just me losing some creative juice. I can't do much of this at home because there's not a lot of time and most of this requires time. I have time at my day job, but I can't in good conscience use that time for creative endeavors. I'm afraid of how much I abuse that as it is.
Mrs. Austin got on with the Pflugerville paper yesterday. She's not only the latest addition to their freelance photographer bullpen, but they also mentioned that they liked her byline writing enough to be a reporter. So she's now on with two local papers. I couldn't be happier for her.
I think that partly makes me want to just stop what I'm doing from time to time and just cruise through life. I see a lot of people doing what love doing for a living and I read a lot of sites centered around the freelance life, how to make it, how to survive and such and it makes me appreciate how hard that life is and how I'm in no position to do it.
Mrs. A sent me a link to a local group that meets up once a month (or so) and exchanges ideas and concepts about robots. Their group's charter says they welcome everyone from artists to engineers, but I know that I'd feel totally out of place showing up to a hall full of BattleBot designers with my little sketchbook of cartoon droids. It illustrates a confidence I still don't have in my craft and probably is a leading cause to my current funk.
Yeah, yeah. This is a "Woe is me" post. I've got nothing much more to talk about. Well, I do. There's the new Transformers cartoon that looks like crap, the Indian Jones movie has finished filming, Karl Rove won't have to testify to congress, a bridge collapsed in Minnesota, Futurama is coming back to TV...but honestly I feel scattered, spread thin and these things are only of a passing interest.
Oh wait, I haven't had any coffee today. That explains it.
Carry on.
I don't care who's drawing them, who's writing them. I don't care about web comics or comics being made into movies. I don't care about the theories and studies of graphic novels. I don't care about comic books being seen as a cultural barometer. I don't want to know what Wolverine or Iron Man or Hulk are doing. I don't even care about the stories I've come up with. I don't want to make them into comic books.
At least right now.
I came to this realization a couple months ago when being at the grand opening of a local comic store on Free Comic Book Day sparked absolutely no interest. It rekindled no love. Last night I was finishing up this comic panel for a client when I realized that I have no love for it. Creativity seems kind of a chore lately. I'm supposed to be helping run the ASJ41 webcomic and yet I can't bring myself to update the production list. I've got a smattering of my own strip ideas, uncolored robots, undrawn hoboes, and myriad story ideas waiting to be realized and yet I don't want to do anything. I don't feel like drawing, I don't feel like writing, I don't even feel like watching TV.
Must be the middle of summer.
I don't mind picking up commissions and will gladly knock them out when they come up. I like getting paid - finally getting paid - for something I like doing. Maybe the remuneration is causing my muse to ebb. I'm waiting for people to tell me what they want rather than doing things for myself.
As with the 100 Artists Project, I'm very in tune with the idea of starting something and then just watching it evolve. I've been at the helm of so many projects, most of which never amount to anything, that I think I'm burning myself out. I see people like Len and Adam and Eduardo constantly drawing and being innovative and productive and I get a mixed sense of "Not now" and "Why bother."
Here's some of the projects I'm working on or ideas I've had:
* Doing a sketchbook full of robots, seven of them adding up to 700 total drawings and then selling the sketchbooks
* T-shirts showing caution sign type figures playing childhood games.
* Make a coloring book of robots.
* Make more robot t-shirts.
* Do a second issue of the comic book I started years ago.
* Do a comic strip based on the life of an artist who has a robot best friend.
* A Doctor Who "Time War" comic or script.
* A Fifth Element prequel script.
* More customized cartoon portraits; robots, faeries, elves, pirates, whatever.
* The PJ Member Poster
* The ASJ webcomic production
* The PJU webcomic
* Writing an episode for ASJ.
These are just a handful of things that rattle around in my head. They'll change from week to week. This time last year I was heavy into Albatross 18, so much so I was designing a character and sketching out course designs. Since then I haven't even played the game. I don't know if it's a focus thing or just me losing some creative juice. I can't do much of this at home because there's not a lot of time and most of this requires time. I have time at my day job, but I can't in good conscience use that time for creative endeavors. I'm afraid of how much I abuse that as it is.
Mrs. Austin got on with the Pflugerville paper yesterday. She's not only the latest addition to their freelance photographer bullpen, but they also mentioned that they liked her byline writing enough to be a reporter. So she's now on with two local papers. I couldn't be happier for her.
I think that partly makes me want to just stop what I'm doing from time to time and just cruise through life. I see a lot of people doing what love doing for a living and I read a lot of sites centered around the freelance life, how to make it, how to survive and such and it makes me appreciate how hard that life is and how I'm in no position to do it.
Mrs. A sent me a link to a local group that meets up once a month (or so) and exchanges ideas and concepts about robots. Their group's charter says they welcome everyone from artists to engineers, but I know that I'd feel totally out of place showing up to a hall full of BattleBot designers with my little sketchbook of cartoon droids. It illustrates a confidence I still don't have in my craft and probably is a leading cause to my current funk.
Yeah, yeah. This is a "Woe is me" post. I've got nothing much more to talk about. Well, I do. There's the new Transformers cartoon that looks like crap, the Indian Jones movie has finished filming, Karl Rove won't have to testify to congress, a bridge collapsed in Minnesota, Futurama is coming back to TV...but honestly I feel scattered, spread thin and these things are only of a passing interest.
Oh wait, I haven't had any coffee today. That explains it.
Carry on.
1.8.07
Indiana Jones
I'm excited, but man sakes these guys are a bit old. Except for Shia. And how cool that Karen Allen is in it. I didn't know that.
31.7.07
$3000 Int'l iPhone Bill, Yay Technology.
Let's hear it for technology and free enterprise! The ability to charge the average schmo out the nose for being on the cutting edge of innovation if they don't pay attention.
Seen on Boing Boing.
Seen on Boing Boing.
As we know, the iPhone can't be unlocked to use a European provider's SIM card for more reasonable rates while traveling. There's part two of the trap.
To be safe, I went online to My Account at AT&T a couple days into the trip and again a week later and was told "usage data is currently unavailable"... and that's part three. I had no way of knowing specific usage data until I received my bill over the last weekend.
A bill for $3000.
I don't plan on going overseas any time soon, but this makes me want to leave my phone at home and make long distance calls. Might be cheaper.
30.7.07
Suburbia
Another Mrs. Austin photo gracing the home page of the Round Rock Leader newspaper site.Some of you may recall the 4th of July picture that ended up on the front page of the paper. I'm very proud of her for doing this work that sees print. Freelance or not, freelance pay or not, it's good seeing someone do work that they love doing.
She may be getting on with the Pflugerville paper as well. Pflugerville, for those who don't know, is a suburb of Austin. It's actually one of the fastest growing of Austin suburbs. It's a great little town, something like 35,000 people live here. The schools are some of the best in central Texas and it's got a lot of parks and paths and pools for the kids. Pecan Street is a neat little road that cuts through the heart of an old fashion downtown.
We live on the edge of Pflugerville, somewhere between the lost reaches of north Austin and the actual city line. In fact, when you come out of our subdivision, you have to drive past the "Welcome to Pflugerville" sign if you go east. If you go west you hit the highway and are technically in Austin. Utility companies love the area because most of them say they don't service it even though the city gives out their numbers. SuddenLink doesn't have our zip code in it's system. Three waste removal companies have trash cans on our street, but when you call them it takes them a while to find the street.
Plus, so far we've had nothing but good experiences from the people hear. The people who (accidentally) hit our dog were the nicest folks. When Mrs. A's car had its problem last week, no less than 10 people tried to help. The Mexican food restaurant in downtown had the nicest wait staff I've seen in a long time. I guess that goes for Austin in general as well. In between NPR bits, the local station, KUT, has interviews with locals about their Austin experience. One man talked about going to Central Market where a be-dreded and be-inked young woman asked him how his weekend was going. Being from Boston his thoughts were, "It'd be a lot better if you gave me my change and let me go." After a year here he goes back to Boston to visit and realized that no one was making eye contact or exchanging pleasantries and if he saw that girl again now he'd ask her how her weekend was going.
I have some people I know online moving out to Austin soon and it makes me think of how they view our city. Nationally, globally, I think there's a southern - and more than that, Texan - stereotype but people seem to know that Austin is somehow a bit different. I heard somewhere that Austinites are some of the only people in the country who talk about how great it is to be in Austin. More people should have that. More people should either be proud of their city and happy to be there or they should get out and find some place they like. There's no reason to live where you are unhappy as it may be the place that's making you feel that way. I spent about two years in Houston and they were abysmal. There were good and bad times and it wasn't the people or the jobs, it was the town. Leaving Houston felt like tearing off a soot stained, mildew smelling blanket of glue and cheese and taking a hot shower.
So yeah, Austin is great. Yee haw. Pflugerville is a good place to be that's not technically in Austin. I'm glad Mrs. A is able to show others through her photos how nice the place is.
Carry on.
29.7.07
Boys Weekend
Mrs. A and LMA went out to Conroe for the weekend to see Mrs. A's parents and other errands. That left me and G-man to take a lazy weekend of video games and TV.
I had planned to letter a couple pages of a comic, draw some sketches for another commission, do some robot drawings, laundry, cleaning, do some work from home for my day job, but it just didn't happen.
G-man and I just cooled it. We both played video games (he on NickJr.com and me on the PC for about a half hour.) I watched a couple movies when he was in bed and we both watched a lot of cartoon together and wrestled on the floor.
I also spent a large amount of time fighting with my internet connection. 10am Saturday I wanted to remote into my work and do an upgrade but as soon as I kicked it off I lost connection and it didn't come back until almost 5pm that night. The rest of the weekend was spent reseting routers and dealing with connections so slow I thought for sure I had a 14.4 modem. It was sad.
So we went to a local coffee shop, got cheese sandwiches and burgers and shakes and tatter tots at Sonic and capped it off with a lunch date at Chuck E. Cheese.
I also spent most of my time since Friday with a sinus headache. I don't know what tripped it, but I'm sure the constant rain and high humidity hasn't helped. So after a while of trying to maintain focus on projects and work I just decided it wasn't worth making my head hurt more and the cocktail of ibuprofen and Sudafed wasn't doing the trick. It wasn't a bad weekend, I just wish I could have got more done.
Mrs. A and Lil Miss Austin had a good weekend as well, but you'll have to email her and ask her about it, they haven't got home yet so I don't know exactly how good. I'm sure it'll all go back to normal tomorrow, back to the rut. Next weekend is a company picnic and we might go to a place called Valente Beach in Austin. I've always been afraid of the place, but it's got slides and water and the kids love swimming so we'll see.
I also spent a lot of time watching Doctor Who and Torchwood episodes online. I know, shame on me. Buy the DVDs you cheapskate. Oh I will, I like the shows enough, but I just couldn't stop. The last few Doctor Who's all tied together and I couldn't just leave it. I'm fully caught up on season 3 now and it hasn't even aired in the US yet. I also watched some Tour de France, last couple stages. The Spaniard on the Discovery Channel Team won. Yeah I know. Doctor Who and Tour de France. No I didn't watch any NASCAR.
That's all for now. There's thunder over head and the dog doesn't like it. It's been raining off and on today and the thunder's been around since about 3. I heard that Austin is out of drought condition for the first time in over a decade. I'll be going to Lowes to pick up 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits of wood.
Carry on.
I had planned to letter a couple pages of a comic, draw some sketches for another commission, do some robot drawings, laundry, cleaning, do some work from home for my day job, but it just didn't happen.
G-man and I just cooled it. We both played video games (he on NickJr.com and me on the PC for about a half hour.) I watched a couple movies when he was in bed and we both watched a lot of cartoon together and wrestled on the floor.
I also spent a large amount of time fighting with my internet connection. 10am Saturday I wanted to remote into my work and do an upgrade but as soon as I kicked it off I lost connection and it didn't come back until almost 5pm that night. The rest of the weekend was spent reseting routers and dealing with connections so slow I thought for sure I had a 14.4 modem. It was sad.
So we went to a local coffee shop, got cheese sandwiches and burgers and shakes and tatter tots at Sonic and capped it off with a lunch date at Chuck E. Cheese.
I also spent most of my time since Friday with a sinus headache. I don't know what tripped it, but I'm sure the constant rain and high humidity hasn't helped. So after a while of trying to maintain focus on projects and work I just decided it wasn't worth making my head hurt more and the cocktail of ibuprofen and Sudafed wasn't doing the trick. It wasn't a bad weekend, I just wish I could have got more done.
Mrs. A and Lil Miss Austin had a good weekend as well, but you'll have to email her and ask her about it, they haven't got home yet so I don't know exactly how good. I'm sure it'll all go back to normal tomorrow, back to the rut. Next weekend is a company picnic and we might go to a place called Valente Beach in Austin. I've always been afraid of the place, but it's got slides and water and the kids love swimming so we'll see.
I also spent a lot of time watching Doctor Who and Torchwood episodes online. I know, shame on me. Buy the DVDs you cheapskate. Oh I will, I like the shows enough, but I just couldn't stop. The last few Doctor Who's all tied together and I couldn't just leave it. I'm fully caught up on season 3 now and it hasn't even aired in the US yet. I also watched some Tour de France, last couple stages. The Spaniard on the Discovery Channel Team won. Yeah I know. Doctor Who and Tour de France. No I didn't watch any NASCAR.
That's all for now. There's thunder over head and the dog doesn't like it. It's been raining off and on today and the thunder's been around since about 3. I heard that Austin is out of drought condition for the first time in over a decade. I'll be going to Lowes to pick up 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits of wood.
Carry on.
25.7.07
Ford can suck it
Mrs. A has a 2001 Ford Focus. It's been an okay car for the few months we've had it. It's used so there were some issues at first, but it's been running okay for a while.
Until yesterday.
Last week the family went to check out a Mexican restaurant in our little suburb and then walked across to get ice cream. We hadn't been out as a family in months so it was a little treat. While Mrs. A was in the ice cream parlor, I was in the car with the kids. I reached across with the keys to start the car. I put the key in and it wouldn't turn. I thought the steering wheel had locked so I moved it a bit and tried the key again. Nothing. After a couple minutes of introducing the kids to some new and dangerous sounding words, I was able to He-Man the wheel loose and the key turned.
I chalked it up to an inordinate amount of pressure on the front wheels.
Well, as it turns out, Ford Focuses (Foci?) have a ignition key lock defect caused by crap metal used to make the keys and the design of the barrel lock. Once the key can't properly interface with the tumblers in the lock, the wheel will not move and the car will not start. Even if the car were under warranty, it's up to the dealer to either claim that the issue is not part of the coverage or charge you a deductible and replace it...
...with another defective part.
Most of the heat for this happened years ago, probably as all the 2000-20001 models were passing their 60k mile mark exempting them for anything but extended warranties. But there are listings of recall petitions and class action filings, none of which seem to have gone anywhere. Ford says it's not considered for a recall because it doesn't cause a safety issue. I'm sure those who become stranded in remote stretches, hundreds of miles between towns or in sketchy parts of town will disagree with what passes as "safe" for the execs at Ford.
I bring all this up because guess what happened yesterday? You guessed it. Mrs. A and the kids were returning from a failed trip to the grocery store (thanks Captial One) and were fueling up. She put gas in the car and went to start it and the wheel didn't move. Now, she wasn't in the middle of no where, she was in a grocery store gas station in a suburb, but it was 90 degrees and she had two kids with her. Is that safe? I know people who've been arrested for leaving their kids in hot cars.
Luckily she wasn't far from home and a friend of hers was able to come get the kids and take them home and watch them. I left work to come up and help because as soon as she said what happened, I recalled the ice cream parlor incident and thought I could muscle my way passed it again. Well I was wrong and so were the other dozen or so people who tried. We even jacked the front end up thinking we could relieve any tension on the front wheels. I went over to the store and bought some WD-40 to clean out the lock. The lock is super clean now, but it didn't help.
In the end we called (ironically enough) Ford's roadside assistance and we got a tow to a service station near the house. The tow was $70, the cost to replace the barrel lock is $350. The scary thing is, I don't know that this won't happen again. From the horror stories I've read, people have had to do this several times in just a few years. I'm not looking forward to doing this again. What happens next time Mrs. A is on a shoot 2 hours from home, what kind of tow cost is that going to be? I think it's ridiculous that a known defect doesn't get a recall, safety or not. Cars have always bothered me like that. They're so expensive and yet so frequently if they aren't babied in just the right way they completely go to shit. For the amount you pay for a car, it should be taken car of by the manufacturer for life. And let's face it, even the luckiest of us don't have a 30 year old car unless it's been completely rebuilt and driven only once every year.
So this comes at a time when Mrs. A and I have just started to recover from that horrible real estate investment where we almost lost everything. We still owe a ton to a lot of people but thanks to Mrs. A's efforts we were making some head way. This just set us back a few months and there's really very little we can do about it.
I hate cars the way I hate insurance companies, and I hate insurance companies the way I hate racist bigots and goats. (Square eyed devil beasts.) I think cars are built just well enough to be sold and then fall apart. They aren't hardy, reliant pieces of equipment. They aren't dependable. This is one of those times I wish we could just abandon cars altogether and start riding bikes or taking the train. It's funny that because of the cost of having a car, which should provide someone with an independence you can't get from mass transit, the owner now has the freedom to do whatever they want. But at the price we pay for them, we just don't have the money to do anything.
Plus, Mrs. A met with a couple last night that didn't book for whatever reasons and now she's in a state. She's blaming herself, saying she failed the family. No one blames her, of course, but that feeling just doesn't go away easily. If it were me, I'd curl up into a ball until payday, but knowing Mrs. A, she already has a plan. I don't know what that plan is. Last month the credit company we have the car note through sold the loan to a company in Florida. So now instead of being able to pay in person, we have to mail a check or pay an extra $5 to pay over the phone. It's not a great situation, but what's worse is because of the shift we owe a back payment now. Again, not our fault. We got the paperwork late (which seems to be an issue with our small town post office) and immediately fell behind. So Mrs. A was counting on booking something to cover the car payments but didn't get that.
I fucking hate cars, did I mention that?
This is unusually candid and I apologize. So much happens in our lives that I don't talk about that some times I feel I'm running out of things to write. But I believe this was fair game because it involved one of my least favorite things in the world and I always have to write about when I have car problems.
Carry on.
Until yesterday.
Last week the family went to check out a Mexican restaurant in our little suburb and then walked across to get ice cream. We hadn't been out as a family in months so it was a little treat. While Mrs. A was in the ice cream parlor, I was in the car with the kids. I reached across with the keys to start the car. I put the key in and it wouldn't turn. I thought the steering wheel had locked so I moved it a bit and tried the key again. Nothing. After a couple minutes of introducing the kids to some new and dangerous sounding words, I was able to He-Man the wheel loose and the key turned.
I chalked it up to an inordinate amount of pressure on the front wheels.
Well, as it turns out, Ford Focuses (Foci?) have a ignition key lock defect caused by crap metal used to make the keys and the design of the barrel lock. Once the key can't properly interface with the tumblers in the lock, the wheel will not move and the car will not start. Even if the car were under warranty, it's up to the dealer to either claim that the issue is not part of the coverage or charge you a deductible and replace it...
...with another defective part.
Most of the heat for this happened years ago, probably as all the 2000-20001 models were passing their 60k mile mark exempting them for anything but extended warranties. But there are listings of recall petitions and class action filings, none of which seem to have gone anywhere. Ford says it's not considered for a recall because it doesn't cause a safety issue. I'm sure those who become stranded in remote stretches, hundreds of miles between towns or in sketchy parts of town will disagree with what passes as "safe" for the execs at Ford.
I bring all this up because guess what happened yesterday? You guessed it. Mrs. A and the kids were returning from a failed trip to the grocery store (thanks Captial One) and were fueling up. She put gas in the car and went to start it and the wheel didn't move. Now, she wasn't in the middle of no where, she was in a grocery store gas station in a suburb, but it was 90 degrees and she had two kids with her. Is that safe? I know people who've been arrested for leaving their kids in hot cars.
Luckily she wasn't far from home and a friend of hers was able to come get the kids and take them home and watch them. I left work to come up and help because as soon as she said what happened, I recalled the ice cream parlor incident and thought I could muscle my way passed it again. Well I was wrong and so were the other dozen or so people who tried. We even jacked the front end up thinking we could relieve any tension on the front wheels. I went over to the store and bought some WD-40 to clean out the lock. The lock is super clean now, but it didn't help.
In the end we called (ironically enough) Ford's roadside assistance and we got a tow to a service station near the house. The tow was $70, the cost to replace the barrel lock is $350. The scary thing is, I don't know that this won't happen again. From the horror stories I've read, people have had to do this several times in just a few years. I'm not looking forward to doing this again. What happens next time Mrs. A is on a shoot 2 hours from home, what kind of tow cost is that going to be? I think it's ridiculous that a known defect doesn't get a recall, safety or not. Cars have always bothered me like that. They're so expensive and yet so frequently if they aren't babied in just the right way they completely go to shit. For the amount you pay for a car, it should be taken car of by the manufacturer for life. And let's face it, even the luckiest of us don't have a 30 year old car unless it's been completely rebuilt and driven only once every year.
So this comes at a time when Mrs. A and I have just started to recover from that horrible real estate investment where we almost lost everything. We still owe a ton to a lot of people but thanks to Mrs. A's efforts we were making some head way. This just set us back a few months and there's really very little we can do about it.
I hate cars the way I hate insurance companies, and I hate insurance companies the way I hate racist bigots and goats. (Square eyed devil beasts.) I think cars are built just well enough to be sold and then fall apart. They aren't hardy, reliant pieces of equipment. They aren't dependable. This is one of those times I wish we could just abandon cars altogether and start riding bikes or taking the train. It's funny that because of the cost of having a car, which should provide someone with an independence you can't get from mass transit, the owner now has the freedom to do whatever they want. But at the price we pay for them, we just don't have the money to do anything.
Plus, Mrs. A met with a couple last night that didn't book for whatever reasons and now she's in a state. She's blaming herself, saying she failed the family. No one blames her, of course, but that feeling just doesn't go away easily. If it were me, I'd curl up into a ball until payday, but knowing Mrs. A, she already has a plan. I don't know what that plan is. Last month the credit company we have the car note through sold the loan to a company in Florida. So now instead of being able to pay in person, we have to mail a check or pay an extra $5 to pay over the phone. It's not a great situation, but what's worse is because of the shift we owe a back payment now. Again, not our fault. We got the paperwork late (which seems to be an issue with our small town post office) and immediately fell behind. So Mrs. A was counting on booking something to cover the car payments but didn't get that.
I fucking hate cars, did I mention that?
This is unusually candid and I apologize. So much happens in our lives that I don't talk about that some times I feel I'm running out of things to write. But I believe this was fair game because it involved one of my least favorite things in the world and I always have to write about when I have car problems.
Carry on.
24.7.07
The tubes, they are clogged.
A major power outage in San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood this afternoon brought down many web sites including Technorati, Livejournal and Craigslist.
Now I know my readership and I know very few of you were affected by this. The event has caused quite a commotion amongst some online communities and yet the irony is some people weren't able to write about it. As of this writing, most of the sites are back up; Livejournal being the exception I found so far. I have an LJ page but I haven't used it in years.
Here's an amusing newscast from The Onion.
What cracks me up about this whole thing is the seeming lack of battery back up. I'm fairly sure these are not all run out of people's basements and garages and they all just happen to live in the same area. More than likely all the servers for these sites are sitting at one maybe two possibly three collocations in their own little racks. I mean, it probably doesn't take much for a site like Craigslist to run; it's just a message board. I could run one of those off a machine I have at my house. It's the bandwidth these sites need more than anything, something collocations provide as part of their service. You put your server at a data center because they have fat pipes.
Which makes me wonder what happened to their battery backup? In just the last couple years, I've worked with companies that have made a point to have a power backup. One company had a UPS so large it wouldn't fit up the elevator, and that was a relatively small day trading firm. Where I work now has a backup that sits on it's own circuit and a cabinet with like 10 car batteries. There's enough power to run all the servers for at least a couple hours. The biggest problem is a server room without AC for any length of time. Are these sites really running without backup? What about the data centers, isn't that one of their selling points?
I don't know. I thought it was an interesting way to spend the evening; watch the Daily Show and write about nearly meaningless crap.
Carry on.
Now I know my readership and I know very few of you were affected by this. The event has caused quite a commotion amongst some online communities and yet the irony is some people weren't able to write about it. As of this writing, most of the sites are back up; Livejournal being the exception I found so far. I have an LJ page but I haven't used it in years.
Here's an amusing newscast from The Onion.
What cracks me up about this whole thing is the seeming lack of battery back up. I'm fairly sure these are not all run out of people's basements and garages and they all just happen to live in the same area. More than likely all the servers for these sites are sitting at one maybe two possibly three collocations in their own little racks. I mean, it probably doesn't take much for a site like Craigslist to run; it's just a message board. I could run one of those off a machine I have at my house. It's the bandwidth these sites need more than anything, something collocations provide as part of their service. You put your server at a data center because they have fat pipes.
Which makes me wonder what happened to their battery backup? In just the last couple years, I've worked with companies that have made a point to have a power backup. One company had a UPS so large it wouldn't fit up the elevator, and that was a relatively small day trading firm. Where I work now has a backup that sits on it's own circuit and a cabinet with like 10 car batteries. There's enough power to run all the servers for at least a couple hours. The biggest problem is a server room without AC for any length of time. Are these sites really running without backup? What about the data centers, isn't that one of their selling points?
I don't know. I thought it was an interesting way to spend the evening; watch the Daily Show and write about nearly meaningless crap.
Carry on.
23.7.07
Someone Stop Her
Mrs. A is addicted to these "make yourself into something" gadgets.
I need someone to help organize an intervention. I should have never showed her the Simpsons one.
I need someone to help organize an intervention. I should have never showed her the Simpsons one.
More Art
So this is one of the commission pieces I've been working on. I haven't heard back yet if the colors were ok. They seem flat to me (because they are) but I wanted to leave it open for them to provide some feedback. It's a fine line between showing what you can do and overdoing it and giving the client more room to say, "Could we lose the fancy-schmancy?"
The 100 Artists Project received, in just a couple days, almost 500 views and almost 200 sign ups. I had to change a few pages on the site because it was apparently confusing to people how the project worked, but I think I've got it cleaned up. There were surprisingly many people from South America signing up for the project and we also got a lot of new countries to add to the list; Italy, Germany, Korea, Brunei, Chile, Brazil, Ireland, South Africa and Spain to name a few. A lot of Brits and Aussies signing up too. I'm really pushing for this project to be successful and I hope people are taking it seriously.
LMA is going to school in a little over a month. Registration is in about two weeks and we have some forms to fill out and Mrs. A has to take her (and G-man) to the doctor for their yearly check up. Pflugerville ISD needs to know LMA doesn't have rabies or mad-cow disease. We already know G-man's cuteness is contagious but there's no drugs for that. You just have to deal with it.
We weren't able to get LMA into a camp this year so we're hoping there's going to be some extracurricular activities. Although, the more I think about it, the more that sounds like a lot. She's still only six and I think going from 8am to 3pm without a nap and without the playtime she got in kindergarten is going to be hard on her. Well, ESPECIALLY her. She's been more and more bossy and moody and independent lately and she and I have been clashing a lot. I've tried to be calm and understanding and not jump all over her when she talks, but lately it hasn't mattered. As soon as she doesn't get what she wants - or interprets something as not getting what she wants - she's off to her room screaming and stomping and half the time Mrs. A looks at me funny and I just stand there saying, "I don't know what happened."
It's been that way for a while. The whole house actually has taken on a bit of a short fuse, and it's not just me. Everyone is reacting too quickly and too stubbornly to each other and it's causing a lot of stress. No one is getting the benefit of the doubt and there are a lot of accusations and a lot of misunderstandings. These sound like ground up problems between Mrs. A and me but it's not just us. G-man has stopped doing what he's told unless you really lay into him, LMA is about as sassy a Jackie Brown, my tolerance and patience is dwindling slowly and I'm sure Mrs. A just wants out of the house and away from us on a constant basis.
And don't read too much into that. What I'm talking about is typical of a family. Siblings get annoyed with each other, parents argue and fight. Kids and adults usually don't get along. I think the time has now come when LMA is now officially finding out that her parents are idiots and she knows everything. She's already 12, but she's in a 6 year old's body. I think first grade is going to be rough on her, but I don't want to be pessimistic about it. I hope she does well. I hope we all start standing together as a family more than we have been. We've been at each other's throats a lot. I think it's all the rain.
Anycrap, more art soon.
18.7.07
An online friend and fellow artist Adam Koford is a contributor at Drawn! A few weeks ago he said he'd pitch the 100 Artists Project. I know for a fact that being linked on Drawn! gets you noticed as an artist. Not being an artist that has a gallery in SoHo, I was fortunate enough to receive a whopping 5 requests for robots when Adam wrote about his, Len Paralta's and my projects to bring small, custom art to the masses with our Hoboes, Zombies, Monsters, Monkeys and Robots. (They have had considerably more success with it than I have for some reason.)
Adam was going to ask me a few questions about the project, but instead took the info from the web site and just put up a post. I had no idea when he was going to do it as he's been moving for the past week so imagine my shock when I woke up today to 50 emails from people wanting to sign up for the project. By the time I got to work it was up to 70. Right now we're almost at 100. And there have been some new countries represented as well; Slovenia, Brunei, Italy, Germany, Chile, Spain, Korea and Ireland.
All I can say is that it got to the right venue. The original idea on Penciljack drew about 130 sign ups (from which about 30 came through so far) and a group listed on Flickr as well as a few bumps from other message boards and the count is at 55 submitted pieces of art. That's been over almost 4 months. In 12 hours thanks to Drawn! I was having a hard time keeping up with all the emails this morning. Plus, people are linking from their sites back to Drawn! and I've even seen a Spanish translation of the project. I'm not sure what it said, but hopefully it was good.
This was needed too. I hadn't received any art in weeks, the one exception being a replacement piece from someone who's art I'd lost. The responses so far have been outstanding and I'm a bit scared now that it's becoming more than I can handle. It's been very "seat of the pants" until now and I'm constantly worried I'm overlooking a key aspect to the entire project.
I've had to make a few changes to the site really quickly. I didn't have an FAQ and the Thank You page after submitting the form was a bit 'pleh." I'm not terribly happy with the site. It's clunky and if I want to change the header or footer I was dumb and didn't make those their own files so I have to change every page. I should change that. But now my main issue is just keeping track of it all. I'm sure with the new surge of interest more art will come in and like everything else lately it may be more than I'm set up to handle. Some times I wish it wasn't a one man operation. I had a couple guys help me out to start with the design and some programming suggestions, but that was it.
So yeah, if you'd like to help and have skills doing projects like this, I'd love to talk to you.
That's all, big day.
Carry on.
15.7.07
Robots Still Kickin'
Just as I get a big commission and offer to help out a friend on his comic and start filling in for the production manager on ASJ41, THAT'S when I get 3 robots from one person and 2 from another.
All my freelance friends will say, "Feast or Famine." "Flood or drought." And I know this, it's the same with everything.
The faerie drawing is done, but I haven't heard back from the client. I've had so much to do in such a short time I haven't been able to do the "mess around" things like the rest of the 700 Robots. But that's a blessing, it's all paid work. I just wish it didn't come due all the same week.
On a different note, my friends and family know about my Bob Cartwheel story so I thought I'd share because I have moments like it rather regularly. A few years ago I made public a revelation I had. I finally tied together the acrobatic move "the cartwheel" and the actual cartwheel, the wheel on a horse drawn cart.
Now, think about it before you poke fun. Growing up since the 40's or 50's, have we had a need to think that the cartwheel was in fact the wheel of a cart or the gymnastic move? Growing up, I associated the term more with the move than the wheel. Couple that with understanding certain athletic moves were named after the people who pioneered them, I just assumed after a fashion that the term "cartwheel" was coined after someone who did it in the Olympics or something. My family loves this story. "Oh," they laugh, "You mean like Bob Cartwheel?"
Yes, that's exactly it. I mean, with things like Fosberry Flop, Lutz, Salchow spinning around, and with no real life reference to a cartwheel outside of what all the kids were doing on the playground, isn't it feasible that there was confusion? I'm not looking to excuse my idiocy, but surely there are some things like that that confuse people? German Chocolate Cake? Nothing to do with Germany. Evolution? We didn't evolve FROM monkeys, it's a long line with a common ancestor. Religious? Adam and Eve never ate an "apple" but a Fruit of Knowledge. These are all fine and dandy, but I have the epiphanies more like, "Oh, cigarette is small cigar."
So, I'll be open and honest about my lack of understand towards words and their meanings if you do the same, dear reader.
Carry on.
All my freelance friends will say, "Feast or Famine." "Flood or drought." And I know this, it's the same with everything.
The faerie drawing is done, but I haven't heard back from the client. I've had so much to do in such a short time I haven't been able to do the "mess around" things like the rest of the 700 Robots. But that's a blessing, it's all paid work. I just wish it didn't come due all the same week.
On a different note, my friends and family know about my Bob Cartwheel story so I thought I'd share because I have moments like it rather regularly. A few years ago I made public a revelation I had. I finally tied together the acrobatic move "the cartwheel" and the actual cartwheel, the wheel on a horse drawn cart.
Now, think about it before you poke fun. Growing up since the 40's or 50's, have we had a need to think that the cartwheel was in fact the wheel of a cart or the gymnastic move? Growing up, I associated the term more with the move than the wheel. Couple that with understanding certain athletic moves were named after the people who pioneered them, I just assumed after a fashion that the term "cartwheel" was coined after someone who did it in the Olympics or something. My family loves this story. "Oh," they laugh, "You mean like Bob Cartwheel?"
Yes, that's exactly it. I mean, with things like Fosberry Flop, Lutz, Salchow spinning around, and with no real life reference to a cartwheel outside of what all the kids were doing on the playground, isn't it feasible that there was confusion? I'm not looking to excuse my idiocy, but surely there are some things like that that confuse people? German Chocolate Cake? Nothing to do with Germany. Evolution? We didn't evolve FROM monkeys, it's a long line with a common ancestor. Religious? Adam and Eve never ate an "apple" but a Fruit of Knowledge. These are all fine and dandy, but I have the epiphanies more like, "Oh, cigarette is small cigar."
So, I'll be open and honest about my lack of understand towards words and their meanings if you do the same, dear reader.
Carry on.
12.7.07
How Old?
So the subject has come up recently as to how old LMA and G-man can be before we leave them at home alone.
The obvious answer is "not until he's 13" but is that the practical answer? Mrs. A works from home and I'm 30 minutes away. If she needs to run to make a FedEx drop or over to Walgreens to get milk or pull-ups, can a 6 and 3 year old hack it for 20 minutes?
Now, before you fire up those comments, let me assure you we don't plan on going to the movies without getting a babysitter. We're not that desperate or parentally inept. But what about a quick drive to the mailbox? Gone and back in 3 minutes. Mrs. A and I sit out on the front porch and have a smoke for easily five times that long while the kids are out back or inside playing.
So I looked it up and it's odd that despite all the concern over child safety, there are very few state laws required children to be of a certain age before they are left alone. I found this off the Clackamas County, Oregon Juvenile Department website.
I think the first part answers it for us. LMA is a smart cookie, but she has the maturity of a tadpole. Her environment is fine as far as I'm concerned and we'd never leave her alone for more than 5 minutes. Mrs. A is more of a hawk than I am and doesn't even like it when they're in different parts of the house unattended - a trait she's quickly abandoning, sometimes grown ups need quiet.
All the cabinets and drawers and oven controls are child proofed. I think the worst thing they could do themselves is leave a tap running. They can get their own food and water and even G-man is starting to go to the bathroom himself. I think when a discussion like this comes up, it's less about what a kid can do to themselves and more about what can happen to them. I read a comment where a parent said they live on a small island and they have no problem leaving their kid alone for a few minutes or in their car while they pop into a gas station or the like. But they said were they in the city there'd be no way they'd do that.
What a horrible thing we have to think about, that someone would harm a child. It's larger conversation to be sure and one that's as gray as summer storm clouds. Personally I can understand crimes of passion, crimes committed out of desperation. I cannot fathom the psychological make up that would need to exist that would cause you to premeditate a nefarious act against a child. It's sad when I'm more worried about a random stranger busting into our house and defiling or stealing our children than I am about them turning the gas on and playing with flaming Ajax soaked scissors.
I remember having babysitters when I was young, but I was really young and it's the fading part of my memory that exists in my pre-adolescent years. Research shows you have a good memory of your life, even birth, until you're about 15, then suddenly you start not remembering your childhood years as clearly. I remember a babysitter we had for a short time and I remember her being "fired" but I can't remember why. I don't know how old I was at the time. The thing is, my mom stayed home and my dad worked so there was always someone there. We didn't have distant banks of mail boxes, we had a milkman and we had in town grandparents and family friends who could watch us if mom and dad needed a night out. I don't remember being left alone. I remember being left in the car for a couple minutes at a time, but we also didn't have car seats and could sit in the front seat if we wanted.
It was a different time, it always is. I suspect in another two or three generations, children will live in a completely sealed off and sterilized room until they're 18. Which will be good for the parents piece of mind, but the almost-adult will probably get a cold the first day out and die.
Unfortunately we don't have the close grandparents or the tons of family friends to count on. We've got a couple people that can be there if we need them, and that's nice, but it's definitely not a village.
Carry on.
The obvious answer is "not until he's 13" but is that the practical answer? Mrs. A works from home and I'm 30 minutes away. If she needs to run to make a FedEx drop or over to Walgreens to get milk or pull-ups, can a 6 and 3 year old hack it for 20 minutes?
Now, before you fire up those comments, let me assure you we don't plan on going to the movies without getting a babysitter. We're not that desperate or parentally inept. But what about a quick drive to the mailbox? Gone and back in 3 minutes. Mrs. A and I sit out on the front porch and have a smoke for easily five times that long while the kids are out back or inside playing.
So I looked it up and it's odd that despite all the concern over child safety, there are very few state laws required children to be of a certain age before they are left alone. I found this off the Clackamas County, Oregon Juvenile Department website.
Generally speaking there are three primary variables which need to be considered. First, the maturity of the child, second, the environment provided for the child and third, how long the child will be unattended.
I think the first part answers it for us. LMA is a smart cookie, but she has the maturity of a tadpole. Her environment is fine as far as I'm concerned and we'd never leave her alone for more than 5 minutes. Mrs. A is more of a hawk than I am and doesn't even like it when they're in different parts of the house unattended - a trait she's quickly abandoning, sometimes grown ups need quiet.
All the cabinets and drawers and oven controls are child proofed. I think the worst thing they could do themselves is leave a tap running. They can get their own food and water and even G-man is starting to go to the bathroom himself. I think when a discussion like this comes up, it's less about what a kid can do to themselves and more about what can happen to them. I read a comment where a parent said they live on a small island and they have no problem leaving their kid alone for a few minutes or in their car while they pop into a gas station or the like. But they said were they in the city there'd be no way they'd do that.
What a horrible thing we have to think about, that someone would harm a child. It's larger conversation to be sure and one that's as gray as summer storm clouds. Personally I can understand crimes of passion, crimes committed out of desperation. I cannot fathom the psychological make up that would need to exist that would cause you to premeditate a nefarious act against a child. It's sad when I'm more worried about a random stranger busting into our house and defiling or stealing our children than I am about them turning the gas on and playing with flaming Ajax soaked scissors.
I remember having babysitters when I was young, but I was really young and it's the fading part of my memory that exists in my pre-adolescent years. Research shows you have a good memory of your life, even birth, until you're about 15, then suddenly you start not remembering your childhood years as clearly. I remember a babysitter we had for a short time and I remember her being "fired" but I can't remember why. I don't know how old I was at the time. The thing is, my mom stayed home and my dad worked so there was always someone there. We didn't have distant banks of mail boxes, we had a milkman and we had in town grandparents and family friends who could watch us if mom and dad needed a night out. I don't remember being left alone. I remember being left in the car for a couple minutes at a time, but we also didn't have car seats and could sit in the front seat if we wanted.
It was a different time, it always is. I suspect in another two or three generations, children will live in a completely sealed off and sterilized room until they're 18. Which will be good for the parents piece of mind, but the almost-adult will probably get a cold the first day out and die.
Unfortunately we don't have the close grandparents or the tons of family friends to count on. We've got a couple people that can be there if we need them, and that's nice, but it's definitely not a village.
Carry on.
9.7.07
Colorado Trip
Here are the photos of the trip, view and read along. You'll know it's time to advance the frame when you hear this sound.
*boong*
Let's begin.
First off, I'd like to apologize to Mrs. A's brother to whom I told I would blog while on this trip. Turns out I was busy doing other things. I had thought there would be plenty of free time but I was mistaken.
Onward.
LMA and I headed up to Colorado on July 2nd. The original purpose of the trip was to see Transformers with my brother. Later we decided I should take LMA with me so the grandparents could see her. The departing flight left just after 08:50 and had a lay over in Phoenix. The first leg of the flight was just fine. No bumps, good landing. PHX was a decent airport. Older, but clean and easy to navigate. It also had the distinction of offering free wifi to travelers on the concourses. Thank you Phoenix.
The leg from Phoenix to Denver was bumpy but otherwise fine. We arrived in Denver at 14:31 to a bright and dry afternoon. It had been raining in central Texas since the Ford administration so we were glad to see the sun. We stayed at my dad and stepmom's for the first couple days and they were nice enough to let us eat their food and drink their booze. The first evening was spent chatting and relaxing. I think we tried to watch a movie but I was wiped out so we turned in early. I'd also worked on getting my laptop to connect to my dad's wireless. I'd forgot my Bill Bryson book at home so I needed something my brain could zone out on before falling asleep.
LMA slept with me the entire trip. She didn't want to sleep by herself, a habit we're trying to break but vacation was not the time. She sleeps sideways and is recorded at 126°F.
The next day we have breakfast and I go off to see my brother and sister-in-law. They have a nice condo on the border of Denver and Aurora. They've done some work on it and it's a cozy place. I'm jealous of my brother because they have one room dedicated to his (and I think some of her) collection of action figures, posters, models and all things geek. They have nice countertops too.
Off we go to the movie. If you're reading this, I'm going to talk about Transformers. I may or may not spoil something for you. But you know what, it's a movie about giant robots fighting over humanity and earth. It's not like there's a huge twist.
Personally, I was entertained. There were bits I didn't like and could have done without, but you know what, I wasn't going in expecting Notes on a Scandal. This is the same people who brought you Bad Boys and Armageddon. I wanted to see Megatron fight Optimus Prime, and guess what, I saw it. I'm going to see it again because I had a very out of character moment during the film. I had a large coffee before hand and a bottle of water, but just before the movie started I went to the restroom. Well, about thirty minutes into the over two hour movie, my bladder starts screaming at me. I kept thinking, surely I can hold it till the movie's over. We don't seem to have much longer. Boy was I wrong. I got up with about 10 minutes to go and missed apparently the best line in the film, a reference to the original 1986 movie. I was literally and figuratively pissed. I was shaking and sweating by the time I got to the urinal. Thoughts of kidney failure, bladder rupture and uric acid poisoning. I get back long enough to see the last throws of the big battle and the denouement.
Was it worth it? No. I enjoyed the movie but I think I caused myself undue discomfort, but I didn't want to miss anything. In typical guy fashion, I'd like to say that's never happened before.
Anycrap. We all enjoyed it and afterward we headed back up to my dad's for some 4th of July BBQ, an exchange of birthday gifts (I got my brother a Mr. Potato Head Transformer and he got me an actual Transformer,) and then off to fireworks. We debated going to Brighton's show (because that's where my dad lives) and Thorton (because my brother heard it was a good show with more festival-ness.) We ended up going to Thorton and had a good time watching parachutists, eating funnel cake and playing ball. The sky darkened quickly thanks to some clouds rolling in, but the show didn't start at the announced time. The wind picked up, the orchestra vamped, people were saying it'd just be a few more minutes, but it never started.
But the rain did.
The group we were with decided it's not worth sitting in a rainstorm, and LMA was getting cold so we all packed up, said our goodbyes and started hiking back to the car. As we got back to the main road (we parked in the neighborhood nearby) we hear the announcer count down and we turned back in disbelief as the fireworks started. LMA and I plop down on the side of the road and watch but my dad and step-mom never sat. They kept edging toward the side streets. My dad (like most dads, like most people) hates after event traffic and will always try to leave early. So we did. After about 10 minutes of firework watching, we left. Yes we beat all the traffic.
The irony was, when we got home, the Brighton show had a rain delay and started 90 minutes late. We were able to see the last bit of it from the loft.
Thursday was a lazy kind of day. LMA played in the little pool the grandparents got her and we all went to see Ratatouille. I liked the movie, Pixar did an amazing job with it, but I honestly still liked Cars or Incredibles better. I was hoping LMA wanted to see Transformers (as she is a huge fan) but at the last minute she balked and we saw the rat movie instead.
The next day was a nice breakfast of fruit face pancakes and bacon and then around noon-ish we headed over to see my grandma and mom and aunt. We had a nice lunch and my mom took me to an art store for my birthday present and so I got a few Prismacolor markers (like the wants over on my Wish List, doesn't mean dear readers should ignore that now, right?) So we hung out at grandma's for an hour or so and then headed out...
...into the worst traffic jam I can remember.
Something hazardous and unknown had spilled on the southbound lanes of I-25, the main north/south artery in Denver. It happened two hours before we left my grandma's but the highway was still closed, but as my mom pointed out, they were still letting people ONTO the highway farther up. Anyway, we had to get off the highway, take a few side streets and try and make our way back to a point farther south. In hindsight there was a better way of going, but by the time we had realized it, there was no way to turn around. The normal 90 minute drive from south Denver to Woodland park took four hours.
LMA slept through most of it.
Woodland Park, Colorado is a lovely little town. It lives about 30 minutes west of Colorado Springs and is virtually in the shadow of Pike's Peak. We got into town just in time to get a pizza and chat a bit. We got a tour of the house (which I hadn't seen yet) and then passed out after trying to watch Spirited Away. (LMA's favorite movie.)
The next day we had a nice breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns and fruit and then headed to The North Pole, Santa's Workshop. This is an amusement park at the foot of Pike's Peak. It's geared toward smaller kids, but we all had a good time. After much cajoling, LMA boarded the gondola, the first ride, and realized there is a thing called "thrill." She then rode every ride, no matter how gut wrenching it was. She is an adrenaline junkie. I think she had a good time. She was allowed to drink a soda, she had lime sherbet (which she called lima bean ice cream) and she wasn't really forced to eat much if she didn't want to. Plus she got to sit on Santa's Lap in July. How cool for her. How horrible for Santa, it's freakin July!
The idea was to go to the park and then a movie, but by the time we were done dragging LMA away from the candy-cane colored splendor, we were all pretty beat. LMA and I had a long drive back to Brighton to make so we all decided to go back and rest.
The rest of the trip was typical. Lots of driving, waiting, boarding, checking in. The flight home was nondescript and I was glad to get home to the smell of my own house and the feel of my own bed. It was wonderful to see Mrs. A and hear G-man's voice. Last night Mrs. A came home from running a few errands with three books of sheet music. Oh, did I mention we got a FREE PIANO!?
Ok.
Carry on.
*boong*
Let's begin.
First off, I'd like to apologize to Mrs. A's brother to whom I told I would blog while on this trip. Turns out I was busy doing other things. I had thought there would be plenty of free time but I was mistaken.
Onward.
LMA and I headed up to Colorado on July 2nd. The original purpose of the trip was to see Transformers with my brother. Later we decided I should take LMA with me so the grandparents could see her. The departing flight left just after 08:50 and had a lay over in Phoenix. The first leg of the flight was just fine. No bumps, good landing. PHX was a decent airport. Older, but clean and easy to navigate. It also had the distinction of offering free wifi to travelers on the concourses. Thank you Phoenix.
The leg from Phoenix to Denver was bumpy but otherwise fine. We arrived in Denver at 14:31 to a bright and dry afternoon. It had been raining in central Texas since the Ford administration so we were glad to see the sun. We stayed at my dad and stepmom's for the first couple days and they were nice enough to let us eat their food and drink their booze. The first evening was spent chatting and relaxing. I think we tried to watch a movie but I was wiped out so we turned in early. I'd also worked on getting my laptop to connect to my dad's wireless. I'd forgot my Bill Bryson book at home so I needed something my brain could zone out on before falling asleep.
LMA slept with me the entire trip. She didn't want to sleep by herself, a habit we're trying to break but vacation was not the time. She sleeps sideways and is recorded at 126°F.
The next day we have breakfast and I go off to see my brother and sister-in-law. They have a nice condo on the border of Denver and Aurora. They've done some work on it and it's a cozy place. I'm jealous of my brother because they have one room dedicated to his (and I think some of her) collection of action figures, posters, models and all things geek. They have nice countertops too.
Off we go to the movie. If you're reading this, I'm going to talk about Transformers. I may or may not spoil something for you. But you know what, it's a movie about giant robots fighting over humanity and earth. It's not like there's a huge twist.
Personally, I was entertained. There were bits I didn't like and could have done without, but you know what, I wasn't going in expecting Notes on a Scandal. This is the same people who brought you Bad Boys and Armageddon. I wanted to see Megatron fight Optimus Prime, and guess what, I saw it. I'm going to see it again because I had a very out of character moment during the film. I had a large coffee before hand and a bottle of water, but just before the movie started I went to the restroom. Well, about thirty minutes into the over two hour movie, my bladder starts screaming at me. I kept thinking, surely I can hold it till the movie's over. We don't seem to have much longer. Boy was I wrong. I got up with about 10 minutes to go and missed apparently the best line in the film, a reference to the original 1986 movie. I was literally and figuratively pissed. I was shaking and sweating by the time I got to the urinal. Thoughts of kidney failure, bladder rupture and uric acid poisoning. I get back long enough to see the last throws of the big battle and the denouement.
Was it worth it? No. I enjoyed the movie but I think I caused myself undue discomfort, but I didn't want to miss anything. In typical guy fashion, I'd like to say that's never happened before.
Anycrap. We all enjoyed it and afterward we headed back up to my dad's for some 4th of July BBQ, an exchange of birthday gifts (I got my brother a Mr. Potato Head Transformer and he got me an actual Transformer,) and then off to fireworks. We debated going to Brighton's show (because that's where my dad lives) and Thorton (because my brother heard it was a good show with more festival-ness.) We ended up going to Thorton and had a good time watching parachutists, eating funnel cake and playing ball. The sky darkened quickly thanks to some clouds rolling in, but the show didn't start at the announced time. The wind picked up, the orchestra vamped, people were saying it'd just be a few more minutes, but it never started.
But the rain did.
The group we were with decided it's not worth sitting in a rainstorm, and LMA was getting cold so we all packed up, said our goodbyes and started hiking back to the car. As we got back to the main road (we parked in the neighborhood nearby) we hear the announcer count down and we turned back in disbelief as the fireworks started. LMA and I plop down on the side of the road and watch but my dad and step-mom never sat. They kept edging toward the side streets. My dad (like most dads, like most people) hates after event traffic and will always try to leave early. So we did. After about 10 minutes of firework watching, we left. Yes we beat all the traffic.
The irony was, when we got home, the Brighton show had a rain delay and started 90 minutes late. We were able to see the last bit of it from the loft.
Thursday was a lazy kind of day. LMA played in the little pool the grandparents got her and we all went to see Ratatouille. I liked the movie, Pixar did an amazing job with it, but I honestly still liked Cars or Incredibles better. I was hoping LMA wanted to see Transformers (as she is a huge fan) but at the last minute she balked and we saw the rat movie instead.
The next day was a nice breakfast of fruit face pancakes and bacon and then around noon-ish we headed over to see my grandma and mom and aunt. We had a nice lunch and my mom took me to an art store for my birthday present and so I got a few Prismacolor markers (like the wants over on my Wish List, doesn't mean dear readers should ignore that now, right?) So we hung out at grandma's for an hour or so and then headed out...
...into the worst traffic jam I can remember.
Something hazardous and unknown had spilled on the southbound lanes of I-25, the main north/south artery in Denver. It happened two hours before we left my grandma's but the highway was still closed, but as my mom pointed out, they were still letting people ONTO the highway farther up. Anyway, we had to get off the highway, take a few side streets and try and make our way back to a point farther south. In hindsight there was a better way of going, but by the time we had realized it, there was no way to turn around. The normal 90 minute drive from south Denver to Woodland park took four hours.
LMA slept through most of it.
Woodland Park, Colorado is a lovely little town. It lives about 30 minutes west of Colorado Springs and is virtually in the shadow of Pike's Peak. We got into town just in time to get a pizza and chat a bit. We got a tour of the house (which I hadn't seen yet) and then passed out after trying to watch Spirited Away. (LMA's favorite movie.)
The next day we had a nice breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns and fruit and then headed to The North Pole, Santa's Workshop. This is an amusement park at the foot of Pike's Peak. It's geared toward smaller kids, but we all had a good time. After much cajoling, LMA boarded the gondola, the first ride, and realized there is a thing called "thrill." She then rode every ride, no matter how gut wrenching it was. She is an adrenaline junkie. I think she had a good time. She was allowed to drink a soda, she had lime sherbet (which she called lima bean ice cream) and she wasn't really forced to eat much if she didn't want to. Plus she got to sit on Santa's Lap in July. How cool for her. How horrible for Santa, it's freakin July!
The idea was to go to the park and then a movie, but by the time we were done dragging LMA away from the candy-cane colored splendor, we were all pretty beat. LMA and I had a long drive back to Brighton to make so we all decided to go back and rest.
The rest of the trip was typical. Lots of driving, waiting, boarding, checking in. The flight home was nondescript and I was glad to get home to the smell of my own house and the feel of my own bed. It was wonderful to see Mrs. A and hear G-man's voice. Last night Mrs. A came home from running a few errands with three books of sheet music. Oh, did I mention we got a FREE PIANO!?
Ok.
Carry on.
8.7.07
LMAisms
Yes, yes. We went to Colorado for a few days. I'll write about that tomorrow. Here's an hors-devours to hold you over.
LMA - Mommy, can we go to the White House?
Mrs. A - Yeah.
LMA - Can anybody go to the White House?
Mrs. A - Yeah.
LMA - Even Mexicans?
Mrs. A - Uh huh.
LMA - Wait, did George Bush die?
Mrs. A - No...?
LMA - But what if the Mexicans don't speak English?
Mrs. A - Well I don't know.
LMA - Does George Bush speak Spanish?
Mrs. A - No, not very well.
LMA - He's an idiot.
LMA - Mommy, can we go to the White House?
Mrs. A - Yeah.
LMA - Can anybody go to the White House?
Mrs. A - Yeah.
LMA - Even Mexicans?
Mrs. A - Uh huh.
LMA - Wait, did George Bush die?
Mrs. A - No...?
LMA - But what if the Mexicans don't speak English?
Mrs. A - Well I don't know.
LMA - Does George Bush speak Spanish?
Mrs. A - No, not very well.
LMA - He's an idiot.
1.7.07
Seven New Wonders
This seems relatively culturally important.
Of course in five years, some reporter will ask Americans what they are and no one will know because apparently we don't know shit.
Of course in five years, some reporter will ask Americans what they are and no one will know because apparently we don't know shit.
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