Last weekend I took the kids and Tiger Lily up to Colorado to see my cousin get married. You'd think I was close to said cousin to make this trip but in reality I'm not. At one point in our lives we were close-ER but since I moved away 13 years ago I haven't been close to anyone up there. Most of my family lived in Denver or surrounding suburbs so it wasn't hard to remain in contact. While we wouldn't spend every weekend with my aunts and uncles, we would see them several times a year.
That changed after moving to Texas and it's harder and harder to go back each time. When I left I was still young. I wasn't a child, but I was not quite the perfectly responsible adult you think one would need to be in order to make that kind of transition. I wouldn't even think of myself that way today. In my head, I'm much younger than my years on this Earth. I may not remember exact details, but the nostalgia for times gone by is strong and I've noticed it's becoming painful. It's no longer a wistful recollection of sweetness and innocence and reckless abandon, but a scraping of your soul with a laser all the things you've lost, haven't done and likely never will do.
We crammed as much as we could into the few days we were there, including a drive to the summit of Pike's Peak. Tiger Lily had never been to Colorado, never seen mountains this large and had never been higher than a few hundred feet, with the exception of flying. We drove to Manitou Springs where we had buffalo burgers and ice cream. We drove through the Garden of the Gods and then eventually went through the neighborhood where I grew up.
It was small.
It was small and run down and really quite sad, but it was in the exact place I'd left it. The fences and buildings and most of the trees were just like I'd left them. The sidewalks and fire hydrants and hills and signs were mostly there. But I felt like an alien. I felt as though it was still me but I'd been pulled through a rift in time and space and dropped into an alternate universe, a universe in which everything was vibrant and real and tangible, but not right. I can still trace the path of the bike ride to the rec center in my head, but the route now seems wider and with a strange buzz in the air. The park and elementary school have different paint jobs and playgrounds but the structures are the same. Trees grow quite a bit in 13 years.
It was sad and unnerving and it made me want to cry and scratch my skin all over. I wanted to just walk into all the houses of my friends like I had done for so many years, knowing that the line "I used to live here" would not stop the current residents from pressing charges.
I think the saddest thing is that it looked like every where else.
There was no feeling of familiarity outside of knowing which way to turn. There was no warm feeling of being almost home or almost to my buddies house or nearly to the top of the hill on my bike. It was the moon from Baron Munchausen. It was all front and nothing behind it. It was really quite dead to me.
Instead of the PDQ it was just another Diamond Shamrock. Instead of long drives in between sub divisions, it was one long strip mall. Instead of it being small and quaint and unique, it was homogeneous and average. It was exactly as I remember it and nothing at all like I wanted it to be.
But what do you expect, really? I'm not 9, riding on my BMX Mongoose to the hills down between the neighborhoods. I'm not building Lego starships and leaving them buried in the sand at the rec center. I'm not riding my skateboard down the main street. Why would I expect it to be the same for me now? Because my brain was formed then. My life and my habits and my fascinations and hopes were all forged in that crummy little area of north west Denver, a few miles from a mall or a county airport or our church in the next town. That's the place I decided I wanted to be a cartoonist/fighter pilot/Lego builder/astronaut/movie star. That's the place I fell in love for the first time, had my first kiss, my first sexual encounter, my first car, speeding ticket, alcoholic beverage, video game, ice cream and X-Wing from Kenner.
Since then, I've accomplished much in the same way that the neighborhood has evolved. I work in an office. I got married and had kids. I have a car, a pet, bills and my hair line is receding. I feel like everyone else and the older I get the less distinctive I'll be, just like my neighborhood is now to me.
The trick is, never go back. Just move ahead.
29.7.10
3.7.10
2.7.10
Lego Update!
The LEGO® group is opening a store in Austin. A "soft" opening is scheduled for July 15th and the grand opening should be some time in early August. As part of TexLUG, Tiger Lily and I will be meeting at another member's house to help build the "Brand Ribbon" sets as well as some retail sets for display at the opening.
This is nearly a dream come true for me. I've been building Lego most of my life and to be able to build stuff that Lego sent to display in a store is bouncy-dance, fist-pumping exciting. When I'm at the store and people are looking at the sets on display, I can say, "I built that."
Next step is designing them.
There was a post on Eurobricks about a product designer job opening and I about fell out of my cubical. The catch? It's in Denmark. Which led me to ask them if any jobs like this are available in the US. I'm guessing no and that will really change my plans for the future. I hear Denmark is nice, but I'd rather not have to move there.
Closer to home, Tiger Lily and I have finished about 3/4 of our tower. We get more parts in almost every week and this last batch put us really close. I don't know that we'll be able to show it at the opening of the Lego store (I don't think they allow MOCs) but we'll at least be able to take it to other places TexLUG puts on a display.
That's all for now, carry on.
This is nearly a dream come true for me. I've been building Lego most of my life and to be able to build stuff that Lego sent to display in a store is bouncy-dance, fist-pumping exciting. When I'm at the store and people are looking at the sets on display, I can say, "I built that."
Next step is designing them.
There was a post on Eurobricks about a product designer job opening and I about fell out of my cubical. The catch? It's in Denmark. Which led me to ask them if any jobs like this are available in the US. I'm guessing no and that will really change my plans for the future. I hear Denmark is nice, but I'd rather not have to move there.
Closer to home, Tiger Lily and I have finished about 3/4 of our tower. We get more parts in almost every week and this last batch put us really close. I don't know that we'll be able to show it at the opening of the Lego store (I don't think they allow MOCs) but we'll at least be able to take it to other places TexLUG puts on a display.
That's all for now, carry on.
28.6.10
Robot Prez Shirt RIPT
I wish I could have posted this sooner but I missed out in the morning. Anyway, go to RIPT Apparel and get a Robot President T-Shirt. It's only up for today so you have to act now!
www.riptapparel.com
22.6.10
Robot Prez Shirt RIPT
On Monday, June 28th, this shirt will be available on RIPT.
riptapparel.com/
Please consider purchasing one or at least posting about it. Thank you.
riptapparel.com/
Please consider purchasing one or at least posting about it. Thank you.
4.6.10
Deus Ex Machina: A Lost and Battlestar Galactica Comparison
I felt moved to write because I feel I'm on the wrong side of fence as the bandwagon leaves the station. The ending of Lost wasn't for me. I thought it was cheap and focused too much on the last season and not enough on the show as a whole. It tied up loose ends with a very soft touch and some gold ribbon, and then handed its final message to the viewers on a warm plate covered in love and chocolate and joyful tears.
And I call bullshit.
In 2005, J.J. Abrams told the world that one of the leading theories about Lost was not correct. The island inhabitants were not in fact in Purgatory. Co-creator Damon Lindelof did the same a year later. As people tried to make sense of all the story lines and all the hints and side stories, it was probably natural that we lost focus and just chalked it up to something spiritual. But the show runners said we were wrong.
Turns out, in 2005, we were. But in 2009-2010, the tune changed. When the bomb went off at the end of last season, we began a new and final chapter in which the characters were in Purgatory, or at least a realm in between the living and the soon to be dead. The reality of the Island, such as it was, remained intact. Elusive, inexplicable, frustratingly vague, but intact. There was no split timeline, no alternate parallel universe. It was some blissful Matrix like construct each cast member created in their mind or soul or whatever in order to meet their loved ones after they die...whenever that was going to be.
But it was only the loved ones from the Island. Kate's mom wasn't there. Juliet's sister wasn't there. Hugo's parents weren't there. Did the four-five months these people spend on the Island completely replace the love and affection they had for their families or the rest of the world? I would appear so.
So the last season was the one that would explain it all, and it did mostly. Except for why CJ was there in the first place and why she killed Jacob and Blackshirt's real mom. Oh and except for the Heart of the Island. Oh and why were Hurley's number's so important again? So important that they infiltrated every thing in the show? I'm sure there are more, but we know that a good deal was wrapped up in the last year and it really didn't matter to the fans what the Island was. It was magic, it was light, it was goodness, that's apparently all we need to know. It was Moya and Jacob was its Pilot.
Which brings me, with a worthless segue, to the ending of Battlestar: Galactica. This show caught a lot of flak for its initial claim that it was a military science fiction show and not the spiritual space opera it turned into. It lost viewers and the ending brought scorn from those who stuck it out. Again, I went against the grain and felt the wrap up of BS:G was nearly perfect and if you watched it twice on DVD straight through, you would probably see that. The main argument was that everything ended too neatly. Starbuck came back for no reason, they found Earth on luck and the Final Five story line was made up as they went along.
There's truth to some of this. Interviews with Ronald Moore indicate that the story didn't go where he originally wanted and that toward the end they were winging it, but that's how stories go sometimes. We all thought Lost had a big scheme to it and in the end we were proven wrong. It was a little unexplained well of spiritual energy accompanying a glimpse into the personal afterlife states of a handful of people. So why can't another show be about angels and gods and fate?
Starbuck died, but was brought back for a reason. She was brought back long before finale. Before she died we're given glimpses of a special symbol. She follows this symbol so that she can die and be reborn or at least delivered to the crew as a messenger, the harbinger of death. The Final Five hear a song of Earth origin (All Along the Watchtower) which Starbuck plays on a piano. The notes align with the drawings of a half human, half cylon child. They're also numbers, numbers she uses to chart a course away from the climactic battle with the Cylons to a habitable world. The battle was to save this child, one that was born early on in the series and became a rallying cry for the human fleet. Along the way, we're reminded of the fight between the people believing in the gods and the one true God.
So to have Starbuck type in some numbers to save their ass was not Deus Ex Machina any more than the Island being a mysterious living thing with no explanation as to its existence.
I've been told I don't understand the concept of Deux Ex Machina. In my defense, I understood it to mean that at the end of a story, some new thing just shows up out of no where to change the course of the story. In most cases it saves the day, at least in modern stories, but it comes from a time when people actually believed in the ancient gods. The stories would show people struggling with some task only to have it cleaned up by a god and displaying how our will and our choices don't matter. Fate is all that matters and the gods control that. More recently it's a tool to help creativity handicapped writers find a way out of the corner.
And thus the fans cried D.E.M. when Kara Thrace found Earth, but again I call bullshit.
Why? Because she's not a new character. She was with the show from the beginning. So was the idea of gods and God, making the idea of angels not that extraordinary. To me, it's not D.E.M. if the entire show had built to that point and it makes sense. All the clues, all the symbols lead to their fight and their finding Earth. Does it defeat the idea of free will if there is a God pulling the strings? If it's done from the beginning of the story? Did anyone in that show have a choice or were they being manipulated? Were they being lead by God to find Earth?
At the end of Lost Jack said, "This is what I'm supposed to do." His choices, his will, his meaning in life up until last season was to get off the Island and hopefully save as many people as he could. Where did that get him? Most of the people died, including him. It was only when he let go and almost stop making choices did he become content. Even in death he appeared happy.
Both shows started as science fiction. Both ended with enormous ties to spirituality. It's much like cutting edge scientific thought wherein the unexplained is turned over to The God Factor. We understand things to a certain point, and after that we just don't know. I think the creators of both shows started with good intentions, but in the end just didn't know and fell back on religion. The difference is, one did that early on and wasn't ashamed of it at the end.
I'll let you decide which was which.
Carry on.
26.5.10
Gregory vs. His Birthday
I drove up to G-man's school today to have lunch with him. It's his birthday and I wanted to make sure he felt liked. It's more important to kids that that feel liked or that they are good kids. Love is a weird emotion for them, they love everything and everyone for some reason, but "like" is a sacred emotion.
I arrive on time but they're already in the cafeteria and I can't find him. All these little 5 and 6 year olds look the same and I'm frustrated at myself for not being able to find mine. I check with the office because I don't see the teacher either. Yes, they're at lunch now. I go look again, this time getting some weird looks from the lunch room ladies. Eventually I find him, at the end of the table, wearing a birthday crown.
So I've already lost 10 minutes of lunch time and I feel like a crap dad for not being able to recognize my own son in a crowd. After about five minutes of eating with me at the little picnic tables outside of the cafeteria, he asks if he can go back and sit with his friends.
Ms. A reminds me that it's not what he knows now, it's what he'll remember when he's 30 and telling his kids what their grandpa was like. It's the memories he'll have of these small events like lunches at school that he'll cherish. Plus, we at least had a few minutes together and I'm really glad he has friends he likes enough that he'd leave me for them.
But he's six now and these times are not as often as they were and they'll get fewer and fewer as he gets older. My hope is that he and I stay friends, because I like him.
Happy Birthday Little Man.
I arrive on time but they're already in the cafeteria and I can't find him. All these little 5 and 6 year olds look the same and I'm frustrated at myself for not being able to find mine. I check with the office because I don't see the teacher either. Yes, they're at lunch now. I go look again, this time getting some weird looks from the lunch room ladies. Eventually I find him, at the end of the table, wearing a birthday crown.
So I've already lost 10 minutes of lunch time and I feel like a crap dad for not being able to recognize my own son in a crowd. After about five minutes of eating with me at the little picnic tables outside of the cafeteria, he asks if he can go back and sit with his friends.
Ms. A reminds me that it's not what he knows now, it's what he'll remember when he's 30 and telling his kids what their grandpa was like. It's the memories he'll have of these small events like lunches at school that he'll cherish. Plus, we at least had a few minutes together and I'm really glad he has friends he likes enough that he'd leave me for them.
But he's six now and these times are not as often as they were and they'll get fewer and fewer as he gets older. My hope is that he and I stay friends, because I like him.
Happy Birthday Little Man.
25.5.10
Big Time
A couple moths ago, I decided to move my art desk into the garage to make room for more Lego storage. I hadn't receive any robot drawing requests in several months. Toward the end of last year I think I did 5 total. No big deal, it was never a huge thing and I knew that my set up was simple and I'd be able to do some for anyone if I needed to later.
I'm fully into Lego building now and what few art requests I have are a bit of an albatross. I don't want to do them, I'm done with drawing. I just lost the love for it as the love of Lego took over. I really only have time for one hobby, or do I?
I see a great photostream on Flickr where a guy makes Doctor Who minifigure vignettes for the countdown to the season premier. I write a post to submit to Neatorama and send it off only catching the typo after I posted it. Not seeing a way to edit the post, I fire off an email asking if it can be fixed. The reply said I can't but they can, oh and by the way they love Robot Portraits and would I be interested in collaborating with their shop?
I said SURE OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M GOING TO BE LISTED ON NEATORAMA!! In my head. I waited a customary 15 minutes before replying and the site founder and I work out an agreement. He doesn't seem to think I'll get many orders, but we'll see. I find it hilarious that I'd just put all my supplies away and in posting something about my current hobby, I get business pointing back to my old one.
So that's the story. It probably means I'll be doing more of these for the time being.
That hasn't stopped the Lego building though. TL and I are building a replica of the UT Tower right now and it's probably our official entrance into the world of AFOL. Up to this point we've both been just buying sets but now we've each purchased bulk brick from BrickLink in order to complete the nearly 3 foot tall structure. We're doing it for a student group she started at UT, the University Lego Users Group or U-LUG. If it's a good enough build, I also hope to include it with any shows TexLug does as well.
Carry on.
I'm fully into Lego building now and what few art requests I have are a bit of an albatross. I don't want to do them, I'm done with drawing. I just lost the love for it as the love of Lego took over. I really only have time for one hobby, or do I?
I see a great photostream on Flickr where a guy makes Doctor Who minifigure vignettes for the countdown to the season premier. I write a post to submit to Neatorama and send it off only catching the typo after I posted it. Not seeing a way to edit the post, I fire off an email asking if it can be fixed. The reply said I can't but they can, oh and by the way they love Robot Portraits and would I be interested in collaborating with their shop?
I said SURE OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M GOING TO BE LISTED ON NEATORAMA!! In my head. I waited a customary 15 minutes before replying and the site founder and I work out an agreement. He doesn't seem to think I'll get many orders, but we'll see. I find it hilarious that I'd just put all my supplies away and in posting something about my current hobby, I get business pointing back to my old one.
So that's the story. It probably means I'll be doing more of these for the time being.
That hasn't stopped the Lego building though. TL and I are building a replica of the UT Tower right now and it's probably our official entrance into the world of AFOL. Up to this point we've both been just buying sets but now we've each purchased bulk brick from BrickLink in order to complete the nearly 3 foot tall structure. We're doing it for a student group she started at UT, the University Lego Users Group or U-LUG. If it's a good enough build, I also hope to include it with any shows TexLug does as well.
Carry on.
21.5.10
Gallery Night
For those that attended Gallery Night at Springhill Elementary and took one of the cards off my table, I hope you learned a little from the answers I gave to your questions. I know it's scary talking to grown ups you don't know, but I appreciate you coming by and looking at my artwork. I hope you enjoyed it.
I'll try to answer the questions again so you can read it and maybe understand a little more without being scared of being at a table talking to someone you don't know.
For those that weren't there, last night I was a guest artist at LMA and G-man's school. The event was to show the artwork the kids had done and was displayed throughout the school. There were vendor's there as well and i believe sales went toward a fund raising venture, but I'm not sure. In one area there were four guest artists and we were all quite different. I was presented as a cartoonist. There was a lady who worked with pottery, another who did sculptures and another who painted. I brought laptops to show a slideshow of my work and the YouTube videos from Robot Portraits. I also had my old comic book, a portfolio folder and a robot sketchbook.
Each child had a piece of paper that had questions on it and they were to ask each artist one question and have us sign the paper. They'd get something from their teacher if they got them all signed.
So here are the questions and the answers I gave. These are a little more in depth as I wanted to make sure I gave short answers in person.
Q) How do you use math when you create your art?
A) When drawing cartoons and comic books, there's a need to sometimes draw buildings and rooms and objects. These need to be drawn in perspective. Especially city streets and buildings must look realistic, so you need to understand how to draw and measure shapes and distance, something you learn in geometry.
Q) How do you use language arts when you create your art?
A) Especially in comic books, I need to be able to write what people are saying. I have to know what they sound like, what language they use and how to put that down on paper correctly. If I spelled the words wrong or put them in the wrong order, you wouldn't understand what they were saying. That would make it hard to read and hard to enjoy.
Q) How do you use science when you create your art.
A) This was a tough one. I have to understand colors when creating art. I have to know what colors make other colors and how they work together to be pleasing or jarring to the eye. This comes from an understanding of how our eyes see light which is a part of spectroscopy. Knowing how colors work together is called Color Theory.
Q) Who influenced your decision to become involved in the field of art.
A) The short answer I gave was that my Grandpa was an artist and the older I got I began to really enjoy his work and wanted to be an artist too. The longer answer is that I never stopped drawing from the time I was a child. All kids draw, they all want to draw, they draw to communicate and express themselves. Artists just never stop doing that and along the way they are influenced by other people. My influences include my Grandpa, but also other comic book artists like Jim Lee, Larry Stroman, Ron Lim and Joe Quesada. I have a few friends and acquaintances like Len Peralta and Adam Koford and Mike Peterson and Jeremy Dale and Olli Hihnala who have also been a big influence to how I draw and what I want to draw.
I got a lot of people telling me they have kids or brothers and sisters who draw and are trying to get into animation or comics or just love drawing manga or super heroes and I really tried to encourage them to stick with it. One lady said she had a graphic design degree but got it right as we went to war and was unable to find any work. I don't see art as a way to make money, but a way to express yourself. Kids don't draw because they want to start a business, they draw because they like to. The longer you can hold on to that, the happier I believe you will be as an artist. If you can monetize that, then you get to let it work for you.
Sadly I gave up on a lot of opportunities to continue being an artist by trade. I tried a few times to do comic books but the returns weren't something I could live with. It's a struggle being an artist when you need to pay bills. I do commissions now but it's a hobby and not a business.
So if you're still in grade school and are reading this, my advice would be to draw as much as possible, but work hard to find a way to make your art work for you. If you really love it, find a way to do it for the rest of your life and you'll be happy. As soon as it becomes a chore, find something else to do.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Again, if you were there and wanted a comic book, just email me your address and I'll mail you a copy.
ben (dot) lifeinaustin (at) gmail.com
Carry on.
I'll try to answer the questions again so you can read it and maybe understand a little more without being scared of being at a table talking to someone you don't know.
For those that weren't there, last night I was a guest artist at LMA and G-man's school. The event was to show the artwork the kids had done and was displayed throughout the school. There were vendor's there as well and i believe sales went toward a fund raising venture, but I'm not sure. In one area there were four guest artists and we were all quite different. I was presented as a cartoonist. There was a lady who worked with pottery, another who did sculptures and another who painted. I brought laptops to show a slideshow of my work and the YouTube videos from Robot Portraits. I also had my old comic book, a portfolio folder and a robot sketchbook.
Each child had a piece of paper that had questions on it and they were to ask each artist one question and have us sign the paper. They'd get something from their teacher if they got them all signed.
So here are the questions and the answers I gave. These are a little more in depth as I wanted to make sure I gave short answers in person.
Q) How do you use math when you create your art?
A) When drawing cartoons and comic books, there's a need to sometimes draw buildings and rooms and objects. These need to be drawn in perspective. Especially city streets and buildings must look realistic, so you need to understand how to draw and measure shapes and distance, something you learn in geometry.
Q) How do you use language arts when you create your art?
A) Especially in comic books, I need to be able to write what people are saying. I have to know what they sound like, what language they use and how to put that down on paper correctly. If I spelled the words wrong or put them in the wrong order, you wouldn't understand what they were saying. That would make it hard to read and hard to enjoy.
Q) How do you use science when you create your art.
A) This was a tough one. I have to understand colors when creating art. I have to know what colors make other colors and how they work together to be pleasing or jarring to the eye. This comes from an understanding of how our eyes see light which is a part of spectroscopy. Knowing how colors work together is called Color Theory.
Q) Who influenced your decision to become involved in the field of art.
A) The short answer I gave was that my Grandpa was an artist and the older I got I began to really enjoy his work and wanted to be an artist too. The longer answer is that I never stopped drawing from the time I was a child. All kids draw, they all want to draw, they draw to communicate and express themselves. Artists just never stop doing that and along the way they are influenced by other people. My influences include my Grandpa, but also other comic book artists like Jim Lee, Larry Stroman, Ron Lim and Joe Quesada. I have a few friends and acquaintances like Len Peralta and Adam Koford and Mike Peterson and Jeremy Dale and Olli Hihnala who have also been a big influence to how I draw and what I want to draw.
I got a lot of people telling me they have kids or brothers and sisters who draw and are trying to get into animation or comics or just love drawing manga or super heroes and I really tried to encourage them to stick with it. One lady said she had a graphic design degree but got it right as we went to war and was unable to find any work. I don't see art as a way to make money, but a way to express yourself. Kids don't draw because they want to start a business, they draw because they like to. The longer you can hold on to that, the happier I believe you will be as an artist. If you can monetize that, then you get to let it work for you.
Sadly I gave up on a lot of opportunities to continue being an artist by trade. I tried a few times to do comic books but the returns weren't something I could live with. It's a struggle being an artist when you need to pay bills. I do commissions now but it's a hobby and not a business.
So if you're still in grade school and are reading this, my advice would be to draw as much as possible, but work hard to find a way to make your art work for you. If you really love it, find a way to do it for the rest of your life and you'll be happy. As soon as it becomes a chore, find something else to do.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Again, if you were there and wanted a comic book, just email me your address and I'll mail you a copy.
ben (dot) lifeinaustin (at) gmail.com
Carry on.
16.5.10
Rockin' Rowan
This is Rockin Rowan with the Austin Derby Brats as jammer during their last scrimmage with the Ann Richards Derby Girls. The little girls for ADB skated against themselves as the ARRG don't have any small girls. Rowan scored a few points this round.
10.5.10
Happy Birthday
Yesterday was LMA's 9th birthday. Yesterday was also Mother's Day. Ms. A probably couldn't ask for a better present.
It was a low key affair as she has a big slumber party planned next weekend. There were presents and cake and some adult friends were there. Her little brother asked me to take him to the store so he could buy her some presents with his own money. He also bought flowers for mom. It was the picture of sweetness.
So Rowan Michelle is now 9 years old. She sings along with the opening music to Wizards of Waverly place. She dresses in fancy clothes and knee high boots. She has a new day bed with pink blankets but likes socks with skulls on them. She gives you attitude like a 16 year old but still cries like a toddler. I guess this is what a "tween" is. Although I despise that word, I can't think of a better description.
Her last scrimmage is this week for Derby Brats. Last Saturday at the TXRD bout, she got a birthday spanking and a couple of the big girls new her from her Derby Brats team. She also claims that at her big scrimmage at the Ann Richard's school, the Hellcats came to see just her.
She said yesterday was the best birthday she's ever had because she was surround by people who loved her. But today she'll talk back after not feeding the dog. It's just who she is and I'm very proud of her.
Happy Birthday, Little One.
It was a low key affair as she has a big slumber party planned next weekend. There were presents and cake and some adult friends were there. Her little brother asked me to take him to the store so he could buy her some presents with his own money. He also bought flowers for mom. It was the picture of sweetness.
So Rowan Michelle is now 9 years old. She sings along with the opening music to Wizards of Waverly place. She dresses in fancy clothes and knee high boots. She has a new day bed with pink blankets but likes socks with skulls on them. She gives you attitude like a 16 year old but still cries like a toddler. I guess this is what a "tween" is. Although I despise that word, I can't think of a better description.
Her last scrimmage is this week for Derby Brats. Last Saturday at the TXRD bout, she got a birthday spanking and a couple of the big girls new her from her Derby Brats team. She also claims that at her big scrimmage at the Ann Richard's school, the Hellcats came to see just her.
She said yesterday was the best birthday she's ever had because she was surround by people who loved her. But today she'll talk back after not feeding the dog. It's just who she is and I'm very proud of her.
Happy Birthday, Little One.
30.4.10
Lemonade Day
We'll start around 10am and go until we're out of supply. There may also be cookies and green tea.
We're really close to the main road running through Pflugerville, so if you're up north on Sunday and you'd like to help support future business owners, stop buy and get a glass.
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28.4.10
Formspring
I was wondering how long that would take.
A few months ago I signed up for an account over at formspring.me. It's a little site that allows people to ask questions of you anonymously. While this could turn into a truly horrifying escapade, I thought maybe it would be neat way of communicating with any readers, be they regular or passer-by.
I didn't know it would post to Blogger as it did, I thought it might update the widget on the side rather than make hugely titled posts. I don't much mind it, but I thought I'd ask you. Are the formspring posts annoying? Would you rather not see them?
Feel free to comment below.
A few months ago I signed up for an account over at formspring.me. It's a little site that allows people to ask questions of you anonymously. While this could turn into a truly horrifying escapade, I thought maybe it would be neat way of communicating with any readers, be they regular or passer-by.
I didn't know it would post to Blogger as it did, I thought it might update the widget on the side rather than make hugely titled posts. I don't much mind it, but I thought I'd ask you. Are the formspring posts annoying? Would you rather not see them?
Feel free to comment below.
Do you know any local artists who either enjoy, or are exceptional at, the comic book format of linear storytelling who would work on a project written by another artist (namely me)? I have many wonderful ideas but need a capable artist to create with.
The only local Austin artist I know is Paul Maybury. He's a wonderful talent, you should look him up.
If you could pick any comic to work on (or something to turn into a comic) what would it be?
As an artist I would like to draw the Silver Surfer for a couple books. As a creator, I would like to do a story based on the origin of The Fifth Element.
27.4.10
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
This past weekend, Tiger Lily and I drove to Louisiana for Festival International, a three day music and artisan fair in downtown Lafayette, LA celebrating Francophone and African inspired music.
We didn't actually go for all three days (four, I think it was officially open on Thursday.) The plan was to drive out Thursday night and do the festival Saturday, maybe Sunday. TG also had plans to visit her family and friends while we were out. I had plans to eat a lot of cajun and gulf coast cuisine. No one left disappointed.
Her family is from Abbeville which is about 20 miles south of Lafayette. Abbeville is home ot Steen's Pure Cane Syrup. The town is about 10,000 people and is surrounded by rice paddies and crawfish farms, as well as cane fields. It's an adorable little town with a very pleasant downtown.
While in Abbeville, we saw her dad perform at the Abbeville Players, they did Andrew Bergman's "Social Security." Before hand we had dinner at Riverfront and while the Crab meat au gratin was delicious, the etouffee was not. And at first I felt bad because while TG and her sister had made us ettoufee and gumbo, I always thought that going to a local restaurant was going to be different. The spices would be stronger, the roux would be darker or thicker. Something would differentiate itself from the home made fair I'd been used to - even though the makers were from the region.
I pushed through, trying to hide the distaste of the taste with vegetables and drink, but people noticed my plate was not being emptied. When they tried it, they agreed it wasn't good. TG's friend who worked at the bar blamed it on the teenagers cooking that night. Aside from that, the rest of the time I ate like a pig because I knew it wouldn't last. I think the high point was the crawfish and spinach bread bowl I had at festival.
The drive from Austin to Abbeville is about 7 hours. Some say it's six, but we left Austin at six with a stop in Houston for Lego (Lego store in the Galleria people!) and got in about 01:30. Same going home. My car does about 75 max, and the distance is 400 miles. Given the stops for gas and slow parts for small towns, I thought we did well.
Once in town we stayed at her parents house and the next morning we drove up to her old school to visit with friends and teachers. It's an all girl catholic school and I was one of three boyfriends. So the 8 of us roll in and it felt like I was part of a famous entourage, but as a support staff or roadie. We also visited her Nanny and we helped fix her computer. We got round steak and rice out of the deal.
Festival was just one day for us and I'm glad. We spent about 11 hours there and it was a really long day filled with good music and food and friends. We met up with her friends again later that afternoon but most of the time it was just the two of us walking around and pausing to listen to music. A couple bands we both enjoyed were De Temps Antan and Babik. Fishtank Ensemble sounded good but we didn't give them a long listen. The Givers were great, but not necessarily Festival Material. (They sounded like cross between Moldy Peaches and Phish.) The last band, Le Breastfeeders were high energy and a good way to spend your last bit of strength before heading home.
The following day was lazily spent eating, packing and driving. The drive home took just the same amount of time but felt longer as usual. We brought back a lot of happy memories, a couple bags of Lego and some full bellies. I think I'd like to go back for the Omelette Festival and the Star Wars exhibit in Lafayette.
Also, found my headaches were probably eye strain. My right eye was bloodshot the entire time but no headache, like a pressure valve was released. Two days back and they've started up again. Must get eyes checked.
This week is another history test, next month is full of birthdays. That's all for now.
We didn't actually go for all three days (four, I think it was officially open on Thursday.) The plan was to drive out Thursday night and do the festival Saturday, maybe Sunday. TG also had plans to visit her family and friends while we were out. I had plans to eat a lot of cajun and gulf coast cuisine. No one left disappointed.
Her family is from Abbeville which is about 20 miles south of Lafayette. Abbeville is home ot Steen's Pure Cane Syrup. The town is about 10,000 people and is surrounded by rice paddies and crawfish farms, as well as cane fields. It's an adorable little town with a very pleasant downtown.
While in Abbeville, we saw her dad perform at the Abbeville Players, they did Andrew Bergman's "Social Security." Before hand we had dinner at Riverfront and while the Crab meat au gratin was delicious, the etouffee was not. And at first I felt bad because while TG and her sister had made us ettoufee and gumbo, I always thought that going to a local restaurant was going to be different. The spices would be stronger, the roux would be darker or thicker. Something would differentiate itself from the home made fair I'd been used to - even though the makers were from the region.
I pushed through, trying to hide the distaste of the taste with vegetables and drink, but people noticed my plate was not being emptied. When they tried it, they agreed it wasn't good. TG's friend who worked at the bar blamed it on the teenagers cooking that night. Aside from that, the rest of the time I ate like a pig because I knew it wouldn't last. I think the high point was the crawfish and spinach bread bowl I had at festival.
The drive from Austin to Abbeville is about 7 hours. Some say it's six, but we left Austin at six with a stop in Houston for Lego (Lego store in the Galleria people!) and got in about 01:30. Same going home. My car does about 75 max, and the distance is 400 miles. Given the stops for gas and slow parts for small towns, I thought we did well.
Once in town we stayed at her parents house and the next morning we drove up to her old school to visit with friends and teachers. It's an all girl catholic school and I was one of three boyfriends. So the 8 of us roll in and it felt like I was part of a famous entourage, but as a support staff or roadie. We also visited her Nanny and we helped fix her computer. We got round steak and rice out of the deal.
Festival was just one day for us and I'm glad. We spent about 11 hours there and it was a really long day filled with good music and food and friends. We met up with her friends again later that afternoon but most of the time it was just the two of us walking around and pausing to listen to music. A couple bands we both enjoyed were De Temps Antan and Babik. Fishtank Ensemble sounded good but we didn't give them a long listen. The Givers were great, but not necessarily Festival Material. (They sounded like cross between Moldy Peaches and Phish.) The last band, Le Breastfeeders were high energy and a good way to spend your last bit of strength before heading home.
The following day was lazily spent eating, packing and driving. The drive home took just the same amount of time but felt longer as usual. We brought back a lot of happy memories, a couple bags of Lego and some full bellies. I think I'd like to go back for the Omelette Festival and the Star Wars exhibit in Lafayette.
Also, found my headaches were probably eye strain. My right eye was bloodshot the entire time but no headache, like a pressure valve was released. Two days back and they've started up again. Must get eyes checked.
This week is another history test, next month is full of birthdays. That's all for now.
19.4.10
Catching Up Is Hard To Do
I recently received a message via Flickr from a friend I haven't spoken to in nearly a decade. In grade school he was one of, if not my best of friends. I was always jealous of his assortment of Star Wars toys and video games. We rode our dirt bikes (he had a Diamondback and I had a Mongoose) over the hills behind the subdivision. He was one of the few kids at my 13th birthday when I had the chicken pox. But he was a year ahead of me and when I was in 9th grade at the Jr. high school, he had already gone to high school. We connected a couple times in college when I became friends with the lead singer of a band he was in. After that I think there were a couple emails, nothing really substantive, always asking, "So what are you up to now?"
Why do we do this?
Don't get me wrong, I love nostalgia. I love thinking about how easy things were back in the day. Everything has a glimmer of perfection when viewed through that aged lens. And yet they never hold up. I watched a movie with Tiger Lily recently. It was one I hadn't seen for many years, but had always told people it was the greatest. It was The Last Starfighter. We watched it because a) it was one of those classic cult sci-fi movies everyone should see, like Tron and Flash Gordon and Dune and b) there was some news of a sequel coming out in the next few years. So we watched and I think she fell asleep. The Last Starfighter doesn't hold up really well, but it also isn't that bad. The problem was, it wasn't that great to begin with. I think it's an awesome movie, but I'm realistic in my understanding of how memory laminates everything in a glorious mix of perfection and raspberry preserves.
So when I get an email or friend request or some other form of communication from someone I haven't seen in over ten years I'm not exactly sure how to handle it. I've always accepted them and responded as I'm genuinely interested in what they've been doing. But it's the 8 year old me interested in knowing what the 8 year old them is doing. It doesn't take but the length of a commercial to reply to someone and if they live farther than 100 miles away, it's not likely you'll ever actually see them. The energy you must invest in communicating is low; no plans need to be made, no travel, no drumming up courage or interest or then excuses for leaving early if it becomes tiresome. Firing off a response is a negligible effort.
Which is why we all do it.
TG and I spent about 30 minutes this last weekend going over my Facebook friends. I had a bet with her that she didn't know all 420 of her online friends. She said she knew 95% and that floored me. So I went through mine and I think I actually knew 30%. And of those, most were people I have not seen since I was at that post graduation party where that one girl left me for another guy. (S'okay, she turned out to be gay so the sting wore off.) Point is, a large number of people we "know" on line we really don't know at all and the term friend as become just another watered down version of a once powerful word. I don't know anything about these people, yet I list them as my friends.
I think I'm going to change my answer to "I know OF them." Explaining who these people are in relation to you when you're having a face to face conversation is laborious. When I talk about Ms. A or TG or LMA, the people I'm talking to already know. But when I say, "I heard today from so-and-so, you know him, the magazine writer, lives in Chicago, we did that thing together." I can't just say, "You should of heard what Simon did today." It doesn't help now that there's this layer of knowing them in the past but not knowing them now.
These types of way-back-machine relationships are like winning a pricey electronic gadget that you have no use for. It's shiny, it's new, you won something, but you know you'll never use that USB waffle iron.
Carry on.
Why do we do this?
Don't get me wrong, I love nostalgia. I love thinking about how easy things were back in the day. Everything has a glimmer of perfection when viewed through that aged lens. And yet they never hold up. I watched a movie with Tiger Lily recently. It was one I hadn't seen for many years, but had always told people it was the greatest. It was The Last Starfighter. We watched it because a) it was one of those classic cult sci-fi movies everyone should see, like Tron and Flash Gordon and Dune and b) there was some news of a sequel coming out in the next few years. So we watched and I think she fell asleep. The Last Starfighter doesn't hold up really well, but it also isn't that bad. The problem was, it wasn't that great to begin with. I think it's an awesome movie, but I'm realistic in my understanding of how memory laminates everything in a glorious mix of perfection and raspberry preserves.
So when I get an email or friend request or some other form of communication from someone I haven't seen in over ten years I'm not exactly sure how to handle it. I've always accepted them and responded as I'm genuinely interested in what they've been doing. But it's the 8 year old me interested in knowing what the 8 year old them is doing. It doesn't take but the length of a commercial to reply to someone and if they live farther than 100 miles away, it's not likely you'll ever actually see them. The energy you must invest in communicating is low; no plans need to be made, no travel, no drumming up courage or interest or then excuses for leaving early if it becomes tiresome. Firing off a response is a negligible effort.
Which is why we all do it.
TG and I spent about 30 minutes this last weekend going over my Facebook friends. I had a bet with her that she didn't know all 420 of her online friends. She said she knew 95% and that floored me. So I went through mine and I think I actually knew 30%. And of those, most were people I have not seen since I was at that post graduation party where that one girl left me for another guy. (S'okay, she turned out to be gay so the sting wore off.) Point is, a large number of people we "know" on line we really don't know at all and the term friend as become just another watered down version of a once powerful word. I don't know anything about these people, yet I list them as my friends.
I think I'm going to change my answer to "I know OF them." Explaining who these people are in relation to you when you're having a face to face conversation is laborious. When I talk about Ms. A or TG or LMA, the people I'm talking to already know. But when I say, "I heard today from so-and-so, you know him, the magazine writer, lives in Chicago, we did that thing together." I can't just say, "You should of heard what Simon did today." It doesn't help now that there's this layer of knowing them in the past but not knowing them now.
These types of way-back-machine relationships are like winning a pricey electronic gadget that you have no use for. It's shiny, it's new, you won something, but you know you'll never use that USB waffle iron.
Carry on.
14.4.10
Disconnected
I realized as I'm blundering through another day in IT that I'm beginning to be unhappy with my job.
It's not healthy to keep doing the same thing despite poor results. It's not good for your mental or physical health to remain in an environment where you feel you don't belong or you're not very good at your work.
Don't get me wrong, my job is a good job to have. I have one, first of all. I have insurance, a bonus. It's a non-profit so there's very little effort to please shareholders or trim the fat. You have to do something spectacularly stupid in order to get fired. They have a 401k, it's downtown, my boss is flexible with my schedule and I get a fair amount of vacation.
But I feel like an idiot when I do my job.
It's one of those feelings you get after doing something for a long time, be it a hobby or paid position: The more you know, the less you understand. It may be that a wise man admits that he knows nothing, but admitting that in IT means termination. Telling your boss you don't know or you can't do it, means they'll hire someone who can at half your pay. So you end up doing things quickly but wrong just so you can get them done. You hesitate in pulling the trigger on projects and any big decisions you leave to other people.
I feel like a child.
I'm going back to school to learn a trade, to perfect a skill. I'm going to use that skill to get a better job, but one that might require me to move somewhere in 5-10 years. In the mean time, every new piece of software I install and every guide or manual I skim through and every service call I make reminds me just how much I don't know. At some point I'd like to know what I'm doing.
See, I spent 15 years drawing comic books and at no point did I ever feel confident in either my skill or knowledge. Despite having gone to school to study art, I'd always felt like an outsider and a hack, doing just enough to get in but not enough to make it feel like it was what I wanted to do. I want be a better person, a confident person, a knowledgeable person so that whatever job I have, whatever hobby I'm in, I don't look at all these wires or bricks or pencils and think to myself that I'm a fraud and it's only a matter of time before someone finds out.
Ta daa!
I found out today that a Lego builder I'd never heard of died. I didn't know him or what he'd built. He was apparently so influential that people are suggesting Lego name a piece after him. The man was also a graphic artist and had two kids. He was killed in a car accident.
That could have been me and it started me thinking that I shouldn't just sit here and feel the way I do while I do my job. Yes I get paid, but there's got to be more to it than that, and no amount of money should cover feeling small and worthless.
I can't say I'm strong enough to change, but I'm going to give it a shot.
It's not healthy to keep doing the same thing despite poor results. It's not good for your mental or physical health to remain in an environment where you feel you don't belong or you're not very good at your work.
Don't get me wrong, my job is a good job to have. I have one, first of all. I have insurance, a bonus. It's a non-profit so there's very little effort to please shareholders or trim the fat. You have to do something spectacularly stupid in order to get fired. They have a 401k, it's downtown, my boss is flexible with my schedule and I get a fair amount of vacation.
But I feel like an idiot when I do my job.
It's one of those feelings you get after doing something for a long time, be it a hobby or paid position: The more you know, the less you understand. It may be that a wise man admits that he knows nothing, but admitting that in IT means termination. Telling your boss you don't know or you can't do it, means they'll hire someone who can at half your pay. So you end up doing things quickly but wrong just so you can get them done. You hesitate in pulling the trigger on projects and any big decisions you leave to other people.
I feel like a child.
I'm going back to school to learn a trade, to perfect a skill. I'm going to use that skill to get a better job, but one that might require me to move somewhere in 5-10 years. In the mean time, every new piece of software I install and every guide or manual I skim through and every service call I make reminds me just how much I don't know. At some point I'd like to know what I'm doing.
See, I spent 15 years drawing comic books and at no point did I ever feel confident in either my skill or knowledge. Despite having gone to school to study art, I'd always felt like an outsider and a hack, doing just enough to get in but not enough to make it feel like it was what I wanted to do. I want be a better person, a confident person, a knowledgeable person so that whatever job I have, whatever hobby I'm in, I don't look at all these wires or bricks or pencils and think to myself that I'm a fraud and it's only a matter of time before someone finds out.
Ta daa!
I found out today that a Lego builder I'd never heard of died. I didn't know him or what he'd built. He was apparently so influential that people are suggesting Lego name a piece after him. The man was also a graphic artist and had two kids. He was killed in a car accident.
That could have been me and it started me thinking that I shouldn't just sit here and feel the way I do while I do my job. Yes I get paid, but there's got to be more to it than that, and no amount of money should cover feeling small and worthless.
I can't say I'm strong enough to change, but I'm going to give it a shot.
8.4.10
Color of Life
I am procrastinating on much needed study time - at work - by writing this so you better enjoy it. I don't care if the content is nigh meaningless, you WILL enjoy this or so help me...
Much of the free world knows by now about the biggest event in the house since Ralph Furley took over the apartments. Ms. A and Miss LA broke up. It's only just resolved and Miss LA is now living in her own place. There was a lot of moving and crying and she said/she said, but as of now it's done, as least property wise. The two mixed a lot of pots and pans and pennies and while Miss LA and her dog are gone, there are remnants.
For my part I'll miss her. We'll still hang out when she has time but her presence was seldom a problem for me. I say seldom because that first little while after they started dating was still awkward for me. But over time we grew to like each other. I have a hard time hearing the stories from both sides about who did what and I feel bad not being more involved, but it's my nature to avoid causing people harm and through my inaction I feel I'm causing the most people the least amount of grief.
Aside from that, I'll let them tell their own stories on their own blogs.
Tiger Lily and I are doing just great. We've been assembling larger quantities of Lego, studying together, seeing movies, playing video games, watching sci-fi shows, just generally being very geeky. I think it's starting to make people a little sick of us. But I for one don't care, I'm very happy.
But other events are conspiring to make my life hellacious. Work is ramping up and as I commented to someone earlier, I'm barely competent enough to keep up. I feel at times overwhelmed, as though if I pause in the major workloads, I'll succumb to the pressure and beg to be terminated just to get relief. My work ethic is combating with my procrastination. There will either be triumph or epic failure. (Dad, don't read too much into that, I'm being poetic. My job is fine.)
I have some geeky news to report as well.
A couple weeks ago I moved my drawing table from my bedroom to the garage. I was getting no Robot Portrait requests and the few drawings I was doing didn't require an entire setup. I could do them on the kitchen table just as easily. This made room for some much needed Lego storage. Now, I have a fantastic amount of space in my small room and I'm in no danger of standing on any plastic bricks. I've pretty much abandoned my drawing in favor of building. I consider both artistic, one is just nerdier and more expensive.
So the other day I was submitting a link to Neatorama, a site I frequent, and I noticed a typo. So I emailed and asked if that could be changed before being published. The reply was that it couldn't, but the post would be checked and changed on their side so no worries. Then the replier, Alex, said he loved my Robot Portrait drawings and asked if I'd like to do a collaboration with him. After looking him up, I realized it was the founder of Neatorama, Alex Santoso.
Now, it may not seem like much, but being recognized on teh intarwebz is a huge deal. There's the rule of 1000 that states you work your ass off to be noticed and hope that your craft or talent is enough to sustain you, but once you reach 1000 fans, your notoriety will sustain itself and you don't have to work so hard to reach people.
My example would be internet favorite Adam Koford, or ApeLad.
Before the 700 Hoboes, before Areas of My Expertise, Adam likely did very well as a cartoonist, getting commissioned work regularly and with a steady client base. But the 700 Hoboes and his sudden association with Boing Boing and John Hodgman put more eyes on his already fantastic work. Then he created the spectacle that is the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats and now he's a household name...among savvy internet users.
The point being, his work is well known now and he likely doesn't wait long in between requests for work. He's likely backlogged and maybe even has to refuse requests if they don't fit his workload. He hit that tipping point where by more than 1000 fans are able to, by linking and talking and posting about him, sustain his freelance independence. He likely doesn't have to work very hard to maintain a client list now.
(In all honesty, this is all assumption. I know very little about Adam. He works for Disney in Utah doing character design for games so I doubt he actually has to do a lot of commission work. What I know of him I've extracted from posts online. Please don't think we're roommates. Mr. Furley can't find out.)
The irony is, I'd put all my art supplies away because I wasn't using them. In an errant post about Lego (my rekindled passion du jour) I stumble upon something that might require me to draw more than ever.
Of course it could amount to nothing. Alex himself even said that it would probably not amount to more than a couple a month, so we'll have to see. But in the mean time, keep an eye on the Neatoshop and hopefully you'll see my work there very soon.
Carry on.
Much of the free world knows by now about the biggest event in the house since Ralph Furley took over the apartments. Ms. A and Miss LA broke up. It's only just resolved and Miss LA is now living in her own place. There was a lot of moving and crying and she said/she said, but as of now it's done, as least property wise. The two mixed a lot of pots and pans and pennies and while Miss LA and her dog are gone, there are remnants.
For my part I'll miss her. We'll still hang out when she has time but her presence was seldom a problem for me. I say seldom because that first little while after they started dating was still awkward for me. But over time we grew to like each other. I have a hard time hearing the stories from both sides about who did what and I feel bad not being more involved, but it's my nature to avoid causing people harm and through my inaction I feel I'm causing the most people the least amount of grief.
Aside from that, I'll let them tell their own stories on their own blogs.
Tiger Lily and I are doing just great. We've been assembling larger quantities of Lego, studying together, seeing movies, playing video games, watching sci-fi shows, just generally being very geeky. I think it's starting to make people a little sick of us. But I for one don't care, I'm very happy.
But other events are conspiring to make my life hellacious. Work is ramping up and as I commented to someone earlier, I'm barely competent enough to keep up. I feel at times overwhelmed, as though if I pause in the major workloads, I'll succumb to the pressure and beg to be terminated just to get relief. My work ethic is combating with my procrastination. There will either be triumph or epic failure. (Dad, don't read too much into that, I'm being poetic. My job is fine.)
I have some geeky news to report as well.
A couple weeks ago I moved my drawing table from my bedroom to the garage. I was getting no Robot Portrait requests and the few drawings I was doing didn't require an entire setup. I could do them on the kitchen table just as easily. This made room for some much needed Lego storage. Now, I have a fantastic amount of space in my small room and I'm in no danger of standing on any plastic bricks. I've pretty much abandoned my drawing in favor of building. I consider both artistic, one is just nerdier and more expensive.
So the other day I was submitting a link to Neatorama, a site I frequent, and I noticed a typo. So I emailed and asked if that could be changed before being published. The reply was that it couldn't, but the post would be checked and changed on their side so no worries. Then the replier, Alex, said he loved my Robot Portrait drawings and asked if I'd like to do a collaboration with him. After looking him up, I realized it was the founder of Neatorama, Alex Santoso.
Now, it may not seem like much, but being recognized on teh intarwebz is a huge deal. There's the rule of 1000 that states you work your ass off to be noticed and hope that your craft or talent is enough to sustain you, but once you reach 1000 fans, your notoriety will sustain itself and you don't have to work so hard to reach people.
My example would be internet favorite Adam Koford, or ApeLad.
Before the 700 Hoboes, before Areas of My Expertise, Adam likely did very well as a cartoonist, getting commissioned work regularly and with a steady client base. But the 700 Hoboes and his sudden association with Boing Boing and John Hodgman put more eyes on his already fantastic work. Then he created the spectacle that is the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats and now he's a household name...among savvy internet users.
The point being, his work is well known now and he likely doesn't wait long in between requests for work. He's likely backlogged and maybe even has to refuse requests if they don't fit his workload. He hit that tipping point where by more than 1000 fans are able to, by linking and talking and posting about him, sustain his freelance independence. He likely doesn't have to work very hard to maintain a client list now.
(In all honesty, this is all assumption. I know very little about Adam. He works for Disney in Utah doing character design for games so I doubt he actually has to do a lot of commission work. What I know of him I've extracted from posts online. Please don't think we're roommates. Mr. Furley can't find out.)
The irony is, I'd put all my art supplies away because I wasn't using them. In an errant post about Lego (my rekindled passion du jour) I stumble upon something that might require me to draw more than ever.
Of course it could amount to nothing. Alex himself even said that it would probably not amount to more than a couple a month, so we'll have to see. But in the mean time, keep an eye on the Neatoshop and hopefully you'll see my work there very soon.
Carry on.
16.3.10
TexLug at SXSW
Austin has been invaded!
This year, as every year, the South by Southwest (SXSW) media frenzy visits Austin, TX. SXSW is a music and film and interactive extravaganza in which all the convention centers, bars, clubs, meeting rooms, hotel lobbies, pool halls, patios and theaters fill up with musicians, support staff, aficionados, hipsters, geeks, fanboys, reporters and fans.
I've always said I'd try to avoid downtown during this time. The film and interactive portions aren't bad, but the music festival literally shuts everything down within a 20 block radius of the capital for three days. Ms. A loves it and is going again to as many free shows as she can find.
This year was my first actual attendance to anything SXSW related and it was to see some Lego. The TexLug group had a exhibitor display in the Screenburn section in the convention center. Screenburn is basically showing design tools and games. TexLug had a big table with a lot of the MOCs (my own creation) that the group members have built. They ranged from a T-Rex skeleton display with visiting museum patrons, all the size of a matchbox, to a 10ft long replica of the 360 bridge over Town Lake. We took some pictures but it's not the same as being there and seeing the intricacies in person.
The best part was, off to one side was an area with a kiddie pool full of Lego. The idea was you build something and put it on the table nearby to show off what you built. It turned out to be a magnet for me and Tiger Lily. The kids hung out with us but were bored shortly after realizing we weren't moving until our dragon was finished. G-man took about 100 pictures, mostly of his tongue and Spongebob shirt. Rowan pleaded for popcorn that wasn't available. (Silly girl, hipster gadget dorks don't eat popcorn.)
As the TexLug group started to pack up all their models, we finally finished our dragon. It was really cute and well put together and we wanted to take it home. Someone was so impressed they took a picture of it. The TexLug group even included it on their media updates of the event. I wish we'd have done it on Friday, it may have been put in the main display with the other dragons and beasties. (Yeah, it was that good.) The best part is we did it together. TG made the head and wings and belly and I did the legs and tail and kind of the attaching of it all together. The kids helped us hunt down pieces.
LMA made a neat remote controlled boat vignette as well but she started later and wasn't able to finish before it was time to pack up. G-man was oddly not into it. I haven't figured out his Lego meter yet. He likes them, wants to play and build with mine, but doesn't much care for the ones I buy him. I see them in his room, on the floor, but when I ask him to build something he gets frustrated rather than excited. He wants me to build him things to play with. I'm not going to do that. I want him to use his imagination. I know it's there.
That way when the next TexLug meeting happens, we can both go and bring our builds.
Carry on.
This year, as every year, the South by Southwest (SXSW) media frenzy visits Austin, TX. SXSW is a music and film and interactive extravaganza in which all the convention centers, bars, clubs, meeting rooms, hotel lobbies, pool halls, patios and theaters fill up with musicians, support staff, aficionados, hipsters, geeks, fanboys, reporters and fans.
I've always said I'd try to avoid downtown during this time. The film and interactive portions aren't bad, but the music festival literally shuts everything down within a 20 block radius of the capital for three days. Ms. A loves it and is going again to as many free shows as she can find.
This year was my first actual attendance to anything SXSW related and it was to see some Lego. The TexLug group had a exhibitor display in the Screenburn section in the convention center. Screenburn is basically showing design tools and games. TexLug had a big table with a lot of the MOCs (my own creation) that the group members have built. They ranged from a T-Rex skeleton display with visiting museum patrons, all the size of a matchbox, to a 10ft long replica of the 360 bridge over Town Lake. We took some pictures but it's not the same as being there and seeing the intricacies in person.
The best part was, off to one side was an area with a kiddie pool full of Lego. The idea was you build something and put it on the table nearby to show off what you built. It turned out to be a magnet for me and Tiger Lily. The kids hung out with us but were bored shortly after realizing we weren't moving until our dragon was finished. G-man took about 100 pictures, mostly of his tongue and Spongebob shirt. Rowan pleaded for popcorn that wasn't available. (Silly girl, hipster gadget dorks don't eat popcorn.)
As the TexLug group started to pack up all their models, we finally finished our dragon. It was really cute and well put together and we wanted to take it home. Someone was so impressed they took a picture of it. The TexLug group even included it on their media updates of the event. I wish we'd have done it on Friday, it may have been put in the main display with the other dragons and beasties. (Yeah, it was that good.) The best part is we did it together. TG made the head and wings and belly and I did the legs and tail and kind of the attaching of it all together. The kids helped us hunt down pieces.
LMA made a neat remote controlled boat vignette as well but she started later and wasn't able to finish before it was time to pack up. G-man was oddly not into it. I haven't figured out his Lego meter yet. He likes them, wants to play and build with mine, but doesn't much care for the ones I buy him. I see them in his room, on the floor, but when I ask him to build something he gets frustrated rather than excited. He wants me to build him things to play with. I'm not going to do that. I want him to use his imagination. I know it's there.
That way when the next TexLug meeting happens, we can both go and bring our builds.
Carry on.
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