Late April in the Frosty North.

Hi there.

I just wanted to share my morning commute with those of you who live at a more temperate latitude.
In case you didn't know, I live at a snowy northernly latitude.
How snowy is it, you may ask?

my snowy street

It's April 23rd...

my snowy neighborhood with its fancy white octagonal signs

and it's just snowed...

my snowy parking space...  approximately.

for three days.

That's all for now.

Thanks for stopping by!  

Talk to you soon.

- Andrew

Unfortunately, I'm Not Immortal Yet.

That's pretty, isn't it?

At least two parrots live there.  I'm sure of it.



Hi there.

Fair warning: It's been about a year since my last post, so this is going to be a really long one.

I told myself I'd post again when I got 800 views.  Yes, I know that's hardly any.  I also know 800 seems like a pretty arbitrary number, but I like the number 8 and I needed something to shoot for.

Guess what?  800 views!  That took a REALLY long time!

Probably because I wasn't posting...

This likely amuses very few people apart from myself.

2012 has been an entire year for me.  A whole year.  Here's what happened.

Early on in 2012 (late in 2011?), I began work on a comic book collaboration with a wonderful artist and friend of mine, Kat Hawkins (previously Kat Ruhl), who ended up having quite a very busy year of her own, getting lots of work and getting married, and sadly withdrawing from the project.  This will surely not, however be the last you hear of Todd the Slug and his comrades in space adventure.  In fact, since you've probably never seen them before, here they are.

Left to right, Lieutenant Teddy Justice "TJ" Scuttles,
Todd the Slug, and Mr. Crab

I know -- you know next to nothing, if anything, about Todd the Slug, much less his friends and his great red rocket-ship, the Volar Daucus.
Why?
Probably because I wasn't posting...

The most interesting stuff to come out of my work on Todd (apart from the fantastic desigs that Kat produced and some wonderful conversations about alien ergonomics and rest-stops in space) has surely been my work on languages for my various fictional alien races.  I broke down the English language (because I'm writing in English for English speakers) and researched lots of other fun sounds that humans make with their faces.  There are lots of those, by the way.  I reorganized the sounds that humans make and independently discovered what I later found to be many of the foundational elements of linguistics.  Apparently, this kind of stuff interests me greatly and I find it fascinatingly fun!  Thinking about what different kinds of sounds can be made by different kinds of alien faces really is a hoot.  I listened to and dissected a bunch of recordings of primate and other animal sounds as well.

Do you know why Humans, as a general rule, don't use all the wonderful variations of the letter "H?"
Did you know there were lots of wonderful variations of the letter "H?"

Here's a thing!

Say this sequence out loud:  Tuh - Duh - Nuh - Luh - Ruh - Yuh
How about this one:  Puh - Buh - Muh - Wuh   (Repeat this one lots.  It's super fun.)

Did I blow your mind yet?
Probably not, but now you have some insight into what sorts of things I enjoy thinking about.

Rroto, the language of commerce of the Calmarrin people, from Calma. 

An example of the sorts of things I think are spectacularly fun.

So anyway, I began work on about a dozen languages, though at this point they're mostly just well-developed symbol-sets with pronunciations and usage guides and lack any serious semblance of vocabulary.  Can anyone help me with that?

I would love some help with that, you know, because I'm not actually a linguist.

I also went to New Jersey for a while to attend my family reunion and my cousin Steve's wedding and also to go to the beach for a few days in Ocean City.  Amanda had never been to Atlantic City, so we drove through on our outing to see Lucy in Margate and Amanda was equally thrilled and appalled.  We did not gamble in Atlantic City.  In fact, I don't think we even got out of the car.  We spent several fantastic days enjoying Ocean City, the beach, the boardwalk, and the illustrious sights of southern New Jersey, but I'm not going to show you any of that, because this other thing is way more important.  If you are able, EVER, please be sure to make your way to Captain Bob's in Ocean City.  Also, you should like seafood, because the sell primarily seafood.  I visit every time I'm back in Ocean City.  They are the best.  I can't even really explain it.  It's a happy place.

Best.  Scallops.  Ever.

On an entirely separate note, I started modding action figures and that's been fun.  The four humans here each used DC Direct figures with some switched parts as a base.  I've been using apoxie-sculpt for additions.  I also made my own from-scratch figures (though my own aren't articulated) of two of Magnet Man's three AI robot buddies  String is mostly wire and Putty is mostly Sculpey.  These were all fun little projects and I've bought up the cheapest and most versatile action figures that I could find in the right scale, so I'm sure I'll be making more.

Left to right, Ka-Pow!, Lady Saint, Rubberiffic,
String man, Magnet Man, and Putty man 

The next bit was sort of a big deal to me, because I'm me.

I went to Walt Disney World!  That was in October.  It was super fun.  I went with my parents and Amanda and we were there for a week, staying in Port Orleans.  It went by pretty fast, but I got to do everything I wanted to do.  I bought barely any souvenirs though, because Disney has severely downgraded the quality and numerousness of its fun souvenirs since I was a kid - including having excedingly few action figures and even fewer figures of foundational Disney characters, not to mention any basic versions of foundational Disney characters.
Fortunately, I did get to design my own pair of droids.  Here they are.

R2-88 and R5-X4

I also bought a very nice matted print of Walt Disney from a shop in Downstown Disney.

As an early birthday present, Amanda gave me a Jim Henson to go with him.

They're both framed now, but I have yet to find a place to hang them.

A few good sources of inspiration.

I found I loved Tomorrowland in a way that I never had when I'd been to Disney before.  All of that retro sci-fi architecture is really swell.  In Adventureland, I watched the Country Bear Jamboree for the first time ever and found it amazingly weird and fun.  I was once again disappointed by the Carousel of Progress, but was absolutely delighted by a gallery of the history of Walt Disney, the Walt Disney company, and Walt Disney World.  It was super interesting.  I also enjoyed a gallery of concept and background art that was up in Disney Hollywood Studios.  Also, I particularly enjoyed snorkeling through the "reef" at Typhoon lagoon.  I have a special place in my heart for rays.  They're the playful puppies of the sea.  Also, I nearly threw up after experiencing Mission Space (and so nearly did my dad), while Amanda and my mom were perfectly fine.

Fantastical Retro Sci-Fi Architecture from Tomorrowland 

Perhaps my favorite part of the trip was our time in Animal Kingdom, which exhibited arguably the most in-depth imagineering and park-design of all the Disney parks, and actually had a pretty astonishing array of animals with positively vast habitats.  We watched a tiger stalk and pounce another tiger just for fun!  There was a habitat for naked mole-rats designed like a giant ant-farm so you got to see the naked mole-rats at home!  There was a lion on a rock who yawned real big as we passed in our safari truck!  Also, Dinosaurs.

Some majestic lions nobly ignore us as we pass.

A gorgeous hand-written board explaining 
the finer points of giraffes and okapi.

A random planter, one of many subtle touches 
in the Animal Kingdom

Most of the trip was made amazingly efficient by Amanda's expert planning that somehow seemed to get us onto virtually every ride with hardly a wait.  We also got into a bunch of really excellent restaurants that made great use of our dining plan, including memorably delicious dinners at the Tokyo restaurant in Japan in Epcot, the cafe in the Polynesian resort, and a crazy buffet in the Animal Kingdom.  We were also there for the food and wine weekend, so we got to use snack credits on lots of small tasty specialties.

The Ewok Village.  
I want to live here.

This is a Dole-Whip.  
It's one of the best things ever.

Also, I got to meet my good friend Pooh and also Mickey.  These were wonderful moments.

When I met Mickey, it was late at night when the park was almost closed and there was this thing that looked like a magic show right inside the gates at Magic Kingdom.  Amanda and I were on our way out, but I said we should go in and see this backstage magic show thing with Mickey because it might be cute and I love stage magic, even when it's very silly.  She apparently knew what this thing actually was, but I didn't.  We went inside this building with no one to be seen and navigated extensive ropes and empty hallways to eventually come to this little secluded backstage area where there was not a magic show, but a meet and greet with Mickey - and it was just the three of us (and a photographer or two).  I instantly became a little kid again.  Actually, I did that with Pooh later on as well, but there were a bunch of people around Pooh and this thing with Mickey was just such a special way to end a day in the Magic Kingdom.

I was delighted.

Me & Mickey
(Sorry about the blurriness)

Me & Pooh.
So very happy.

What else happened this year?
Not much...

Most of my year was spent working on Todd.

I'm always trying to draw more...
I got several books by Andrew Loomis from the '30s that are just wonderful.  He is amazing.
Here's a very recent drawing I made of the Captain!  He's the best.

Captain Cosmo P. Quivers, space explorer  

I also discovered Portal II...  That took up a bit of time.
A bit of happy, frustrated, mesmerized, testful time.
I beat the game without looking up a single solution!

I'm pretty sure it's my new all-time favorite video game (not that I've played very many), but out of about a dozen, it's the best, and that puts it above Skyrim and New Vegas, which is really saying something, because Skyrim is an astonishing feat of digital design and Fallout is a just universe I'd love to live in (barring, you know, the constant threats to my life, like radiation poisoning, starvation, and tweaked-out cannibalistic raiders).

What else...

I discovered and fell in love with Adventure Time, thanks to my friend Joe.

I also greatly enjoyed seeing Wreck it Ralph, Frankenweenie, and the Avengers.
Skyfall was great too.  I love how they're finally making Bond an actual human.

I bought the yellowest pair of shoes you've ever seen...

Oh!

Here's a thing.

I'm working on something kind of big and important.
I've been researching and developing my ideas and strategies almost every day for several months.
I've been developing it for longer than that, really, but not so seriously before.

You know how I've been saying for many years that I wanted to someday move to the middle of nowhere and found a massive subterranean squid ranch?  Well, don't worry.  I'm not doing that.  You probably didn't know about that anyway.  As it happens, I've also wanted to make my own comic books since I was maybe 7 or 8 years old.  It's taken me a long time to realize what I want to do.  Something that can incorporate comics, books, and music - It's a pretty grand scheme.
Let me know if you're interested in learning more about it.

I'll likely be documenting my process a bit as things come together (or don't come together, but I'm being optimistic), so hopefully I'll have exciting things to report in the year ahead.

The name only seemed fitting:

Squid Ranch Media.
Inspiring progress through artful storytelling.

I like the logo, but I think it still needs a little work...
Maybe knock a few of those bars out of there...
Utilize the negative space a bit better...

Anyway, that's about all for now.

Oh, additionally, I had always thought that my 28th year would be the year I stopped aging.  No good reason for that.  None at all.  I didn't know if I'd become immortal or just die, and I found it fun that the ancient Mayans picked this year for their crazy-business, until I learned that they had actually picked a day about 30 years ago for their crazy-business, at which point I found it far less fun.  Important side-note; I believe (as a rule) in neither ancient prophecy nor physiologically impossible expectations of immortality.  Just putting that out there to diffuse the tone of this paragraph.  Anyway, it would appear that I am neither dead nor immortal.  No big surprise.  I always held on to the immortality bit, but I don't think it's going to happen with only a few days to go, even in an esoteric or symbolic kind of way.

Anyway, I'm nearly 29.  I've got a long way to go yet.  Perhaps immortality will come later.

With nanobots?
Maybe not with nanobots...
I wouldn't mind being uploaded into a synthetic body, I don't think...

That's probably not something I need to worry about right now.

Me: Presumably not immortal.

Anyway, that's all I've got.

I think this year I'm going to figure out how Twitter works.
I have lots of funny things I want to say about cavemen.

Okay.

Thanks for reading!  : )

I'll talk to you soon.

- Andrew

Meanwhile, in the Frosty North...

Hello again.


So, in case you were wondering what's been going on with me...
I'll bring you up to speed.

- This past Halloween, I discovered the wonderful world of fake pumpkins.
Sometimes, they're called "Funkins," but that's actually a name-brand.  I suspect that
within a year or two, "Funkin" will become the "Kleenex" of the fake pumpkin industry.
I love carving them.  I use a long thin flexible knife from the eighties that apparently isn't
a thing that they make anymore.  It makes a great pumpkin-knife.
Anyway, carving a jack--o-lantern out of a Funkin is far more like drawing or sculpting
than it is like strategically mutilating a big orange gourd.

The Way of the Future.

- I went back home to PA twice and basically told no one.


- I took a big step toward grown-up-ness and got a security system for my house.
The yard-sign has yet to be stolen.  Apparently, it is inevitable that it will.


- I got a big fancy promotion at my day-job!
It's almost like I'm actually contributing to society, but not really.  That comes later.
In life.  That comes later in life, not later in this blog post.  Sheesh.
You can only expect so much from a blog post.
And just in case this "job" news is all some sort of a greater issue for you...
Q: Wait, Andrew, you have a day job?
A: Not one I talk about.


- You probably didn't know this, but I've been keeping my eye out for years to try
to find a really nice little plexiglass display stand.  Well, guess what?!  I found one.


- The Captain had a couple of bouts with some sort of mites or something.  It was
a little bit gross but it never actually seemed to bother him and his fur's all better now.
The vet didn't know what it was either, but they gave The Captain a few shots
of ivermectin and that really seemed to do the trick.  The issue has not arisen in
a number of months.  I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what that number
of months is, but it's a few.  Somewhere between four months and a year.
I'm sorry.  I lack the capacity to track linear time.
For anyone not in the know about The Captain, here is The Captain.

Captain Cosmo P. Quivers, space explorer

- If you're a nerd and you feel like your life isn't as together as it could be, I highly
recommend "The Nerdist Way" by Chris Hardwick.  It's good.  It's sort of like a
self-help workbook, but it's also kind of like a game of Dungeons and Dragons, and
it's definitely aimed at socially awkward, hyper-analytical, creative-obsessive people
like me.  Is it for you?  I don't know.  I just thought I'd put it out there.

- I took a big step into the 21st century by somewhat cleverly acquiring an iPhone.

It does all the things that an iPhone does.  You know.  You probably have one.

Well, now I do too.  It's almost like a magical stone that does whatever you tell it.

Except that it's not like  stone at all, except that it's just that satisfying to hold...

You might not understand why this is such a big deal for me.  Well...

Photo of my old phone (taken by my new phone)

- I fell head over heels in love with a voluminous set of fantasy books at my aunt and
uncle's house when I was pretty young and then they went away to a cousin and I had
no idea what they were or if I'd ever see copies of them again.  Then, this year, for my
birthday, I was gifted the entire set, totally out of the blue.  It was amazing.  Thanks
go to wonderful Amanda, but also to my mom, who apparently helped a bit.
They're called The Enchanted World and they are magnificent.
Also, they're clearly from the 80s, but we can't judge them for that, now can we.


- I joined the YMCA nearest my cozy burrow and that's going pretty well.
I kind of like to run?  Also, I kind of want to lift weights and stuff?  Hm...
I subjected myself to a fitness assessment and was told I did admirably in every regard.

I'm apparently not nearly as out of shape as I thought I was, which is good news.

I got to sit down with a trainer and we talked about all kinds of good stuff.
It was all a very positive experience (and the time with the trainer was free!).


- My car hit 10,000 miles and I had my swanky new phone with me so I took a picture!

10,000 miles:  almost a thing that matters. 

- Lastly, and perhaps most importantly (except for the fake pumpkins, because you
really have no idea how heart-breaking it is each year for me to see my pumpkiny
creations wither and die and now I never have to go through that again), I've begun
working with an old friend of mine, Kat Ruhl, on a fantastical comic book.
The book is about a space-slug named Todd.  Todd the Slug.
I think we've got a teriffic story to tell and all of the art that Kat has shown me has
been spectacular.  I know epic space-adventure isn't her typical bag, but she's
just doing a really great job.  I can hardly express my happiness.


So, that brings you up to date on the world of me.
I hope you found it amusing and/or informative, but if --

OH WAIT!  I forgot to tell you about my crazy bloody eye!

- A month and a few weeks back, I got so violently ill that I burst one or two blood vessels
in my eye whilst throwing up.  I can't tell you how that works, because I don't know how
blood vessels work, or exactly what they are, or how many there are in your eye, or what
happened to make my eye look the way it did, and I'm not in the mood to do research.
It looked crazy and bloody and that's about all I know for sure.

Here's a picture!

No one talked to me for a week!

Okay, I think that's all I've got for now.

I have an excellent feeling about 2012.
This is an important year for me...

It's the year I become immortal.

Thanks for reading!
Have a great weekend!

- Andrew

Creator's Statement

Hi there.

I dont' like the pretention of calling myself an artist.
Art is pretty subjective, or at least that's what people tell me.
I think those people mostly just like bad art...

Anyway, I can definitely say that I create stuff.
With that in mind, I dub myself a creator.

Hey!  There's a new page in my pages section!
It's my Creator's Statement.
It says a lot about me.

You can check it out HERE.

Tomorrow I'll post some fun stuff and some photos and whatnot.
You'll like it.

Okay.
That's all I've got for now.
Thanks for reading.  : )

- Andrew

The 8 Ideals

Hey.

The 8 Ideals are up now.
You can see them in my 'pages' section!

Or, just click HERE.

I've really put a lot of work into this, so here's the deal:

If you love it, share it.
If you hate it, tell me why.
If you have an idea of how to make it better, please let me know.

I'd really love it if this made its way to as many people as possible.
I feel pretty strongly about this and I think it's pretty good.
I mean, I wouldn't have written it if I didn't think it was good...

Anyway, It's in my 'pages' section.
So, there it is.

Enjoy.

Thanks for reading.

- Andrew

Ten Months Later...

Hi there.

So, last year, I resolved to post to this blog each week.
Looks like I made it to...   April?
That's pretty bad...

Anyway, here I am.  I'm going to try to post more often, but -- no promises.

For sure, I'll post a general update before the end of the week.
It will include my new phone, my crazy bloody eye, and some other fun news.
I won't be recapping my entire year, no worries.

Additionally, I know I really need to put more effort into "Teeny Tiny Tapirs!"
I've had numerous requests to do so.  I will try harder.

The first two things I'm going to do, because they tie into the original goal for this blog,
are to post two new pages that will be a permanent part of the blog.
I just need to make sure they're both ready to go first?
They're kind of important.

The first one I've been working on for about two years.
It's called "The 8 Ideals."   I think it's pretty self explanatory.
It's my outlook on life, summed up in eight ideals that I would hope everyone could live by.
Hopefully, I'll have that up today.
It's been quite a while in the making and it's seen many drafts.

The second is my personal artist's statement.
I'm trying desperately to pare it down to fit one standard page.  That's a tough order.
The artist's statement is important too, but... not really for you.
That one's mostly for my own benefit, although you'll get to know me better if you read it.
That's for sure.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this stuff and that it makes you think about things that
maybe you hadn't thought about before.  I think that would be nice for everyone.

Okay.
That's all I've got for now.
It was super nice to see you again.

- Andrew

Time for Bunnies.

Hello.

I haven't posted in a while because very little has been going on.

I think my springtime allergies are starting up...
That's unfortunate, but I've got my goggles and they help a lot!

The Captain and I almost got to meet a wild bunny the other day.
That was pretty excellent.

I don't think he likes the outdoors much.

It seemed to make him grumpy.

The weather has been nicening up, so I think Spring is actually here.
It's raining like mad outside as I write this, but the weekend was beautiful.
Easter was probably the nicest day so far this year.

So – I drew some things for Easter and I thought I'd share them.

I've been working on some theoretical anatomy drawings too.
Maybe I'll post them sometime as well.
I don't know if anyone else is interested in that...

Anyway, the picture at the top is something I did for my mom
and the two below are the front and inside of a card I put together.

Enjoy!

Happy Springtime!

- Andrew

Post-Vacation Roundup

Hello There!

I've been away for a while.
I took a two-week vacation to good ol' relatively-tropical Lancaster, Pa.

That's where I grew up and is also where I keep most of my stuffed animals, sculptures, and old magazines.  I always love staying in my old bedroom.  There's the tiny twin bed that I haven't fit  since I was ten, the old coconut-monkey bank, the lone unopened bottle of Surge, the old Dick Tracy patrol car, the endless tiny drawers full of disorganized do-dads, the lovingly crafted robot-battling mushroom-folk...

That's about as nostalgic I get.

[ PA Roadside ]

The day after Valentine's Day, Amanda and I went to the Hershey Zoo (Zooamerica) and had a wonderful time.  As we entered the zoo, through what was essentially a ridiculous construction zone, I paid our way and had approximately the following exchange with the girl behind the counter.

Girl: ...and here's your map of the zoo, do you have any questions?
Me:  Just, um... did we park in the right place?  There was a guy out there who told us where to park, but no one else is parked there...
Girl:  No, you parked in the right place.
Me:  So...  is there... anyone else... here?
Girl:  What do you mean?
Me:  Like, anyone else visiting the zoo?
Girl:  Well...  there were three people who came in earlier this morning...
Me:  Awesome.

So, we had the Hershey Zoo completely, literally, to ourselves.  We walked around the entire place and didn't see a single other person until we were heading back out to the car.

There were many wonderful owls, lots of sleepy napping cats, a super-fun desert environment with road-runners and tortoises and quails.  At least, I think they were quails.  They appeared to be an appropriate visual inspiration for Quail-Man from "Doug."  That's pretty much all the determination I required.

Also, we went through Hershey Chocolate world and found they've added animatronic singing cows throughout.  That was pretty good.  We bought chocolate.  Double-thick Reeses cups...

[ Roadrunner Mischief ]

I also took a vacational opportunity to purchase a bunch of super-awesome sweet pickles with cauliflower and a container of red-beet eggs.  These things make me happy.

You know what else makes me happy?

Swords.

I came back with a bunch of those too.

Hey!  It got up to 70°F in Lancaster last Thursday!

It was amazing!

You know what else is amazing?

Driving for many hours through highly-hazardous mind-bending snowstorms with about 5% visibility.

That's pretty amazing.  

White-knucklingly, heart-poundingly, fate-contemplatingly amazing.

There were cars off the side of the road about every mile or so.  For hours...

By "amazing," of course I mean traumatic.

Anyway...

I had a great two weeks.  : )

Maybe more vacation stuff later...

Catch-up Blog #2: It's Cold.

Hi there.

I liked it inside my house when I woke up this morning. 
I was cozy.
Things were warm.

Outside... things were not.

You might say, "Andrew, it's January in [my state] too...  It's always cold in January."
I might say, "Is it so cold that they CLOSED THE SCHOOLS?!"

I'm from Pennsylvania.  I've never experienced this phenomenon.

Here's a little clip from the Wikipedia article on the North Pole.
      - "Winter (January) temperatures at the North Pole can range from about −43 °C (−45 °F) to −26 °C (−15 °F), perhaps averaging around −34 °C (−29 °F)."

This morning, the temperature around the twin cities ranged from 3°F to -14°F.

You know what it was a few hours north of here in good ol' Minnesota?  -46°F !
I suggest you take another look at that temperature-range for the North Pole.

Sheesh!  Whose dopey idea was this?!

In other news, I've quite finely developed my skill at disrobing a clementine in a single tidy strip.

Balaclava!

Happy New Year!

This is my first blog of the year 2011.  That's pretty exciting.

One of my new year's resolutions was to blog at least once a week.

Oops!

I'm going to be better about that, even if the posts are just tiny little ones.

I guess I have to blog three times this week to catch up with what I missed so far in January.

Recently, I got a single pure white hair in my beard.
It was just as long as all the others which made me question both my acuity to the actions taken by my beard and the nature of bear-hair-coloration advancement.  Did it just go instantly white?  Did it just grow out really fast?  Was I just not paying attention to my face for a month?
Anyway...
My first though was not,  "Oh my God!  I'm only twenty-six!  I'm getting old!  What?!  No!"
My first thought was,  "Sweet...  One step closer to Santa Claus..."

Maybe that's just me.

Also, I broke a window while pulling a giant piece of extremely stinky ice from my window-sill because I didn't think to make sure that all the storm windows were down where they should be and water got into my office from the melting ice.  There was a hole in my window for a while and that's really the reason I haven't been blogging (or doing much of anything on my computer); because my office has been closed off like a cold-stink broken-window quarantine.  It's all better now, evidenced by my current use of the computer.

I had a super-merry Christmas.  Amongst many other things, I gave (to various members of my family) Spiced Rum, a "professional" blowgun, ten-year-old chocolate bars, "Dog-Sauce," about a half-gallon of maple syrup, and a space rock that's probably older than the earth.  I received (from whoever, amongst lots of other stuff) tons of books, a pair of polypropylene bokken, a custom set of juggling balls, some music and movies, a pickle-brine-bottle, zoo-animal party-plates, some more books, a horseshoe magnet, chattering teeth, a bird-feeder made of asian-inspired plastic dishes, and... some more books.

Also, I went to see Tron at the MN zoo, which was great.  IMAX.  3D glasses.  Super-fun.

Awesome holiday.

Lots o' loot.

I've also been listening to some podcasts at work.
They've been very funny.
You should listen to the ones I've been listening to...

Happy New Year.

Lots to do...   : )

Procrastination, Santa Claus, and the Apocolypse

Hi there!

So, I have things I really want to do and none of them are super-difficult but I'm not doing them like I should.  They just take so much time!  I tend to stress myself out over which thing to do and then I just end up not doing any of them and going off to play Fallout: New Vegas, which one half of my brain keeps telling me to play play play because it's the most awesome and addictive computer game ever and the other half of my brain keeps telling me to avoid like the plague becuase it's pretty much the most awesome and addictive computer game ever. 

Anyway, I really need to get to work.

Would you like to see my to do list?  Well, I can't show you.  It's just two long and some of the things on it are personal.  I've gotten a bunch of things off of my to do list lately, which pared it down to one column on one page, instead of two columns and part of the back on one page...  I've been busy. 

Anyway, the things I want to do most are all creative.  I'd love to write a serious intro-issue script to my superhero world.  I already have a few issues scripted, but they're not really great as intruductions to the world...  I'd love to get my Etsy shop up and running because right now it's all set up, but empty, which is just sad.  I'd love to be writing more songs and actually recording them, especially my Versal music, because when I don't write music I feel like I've wasted my college education.  I NEED to finish North too.  If you don't know what any of these things entails, just go to my website and roam around.  You'll get the picture. 
Also, and more immediately, I want to go get my picture taken with Santa at the Mall of America.

That's not weird, is it?
I think it's probably not.

I find it difficult to just put myself totally into one project.  I always have.
I keep getting distracted with other projects and having new ideas.

Something new that came up, for instance (and is easy and fun and only sort of a distraction) is that Mark II and I (the founding fellows of AnaKataCombo) are going to be putting up a podcast series sometime soon.  It will be called "Top-Teniverse with Mark & Andrew" or something very close to that.  It will be up on my website for your listening pleasure in weeks to come.  We'll be discussing things we like (or don't), among other things, and primarily debating weekly top-ten lists of things we really like (or really don't).  It should be a big old nerdy hoot.

So, tonight I'm going to put myself into North and really try to get some things accomplished.
Hopefully, I won't just give in to the temptation of New Vegas.
Post-Apocolyptia...  Adventure...  Blackjack...   False sense of achievement...   Must...  Resist...

Anyway, if all goes well, you can check back here and on my website (let's say... around monday-ish?), and there should be a fair amount of new content.  If you're into that sort of thing...

Thanks for reading!


Oh, by the way, I was thinking about how people think everyone likes music...
What if someone from another world heard our music (contemporary western-world popular music) and was all like, "Hey, that's not music...  Why are you listening to math?"  It would be because their music is like abstract expressionist music, or more about tones and harmonies and emotion.  I just thought that was an interesting idea.  Who wouldn't like music?  Someone who thinks we're not listening to "music."  That's who.

Nevermind.

See you later!

What's the best way to do [a thing]?

I love asking myself this question.

I could make entire posts about every time I've asked myself this question about virtually anything.  I would love to write a book about the best ways to do things...  But...  probably no one would buy that.

Asking "What's the best way to do this?" has led to both a lot of strife and a great deal of reward for me.  Some people will resist new ideas to no end; completely set in their ways, even when better ways of doing things are completely obvious.  Other people embrace change and constantly seek to improve themselves.
I like to think the latter is me, but usually I'll have a really good idea about some much-better way of doing something and...   not do a whole lot about it.  Usually, I'm sure I just forget.

A lot of good ideas are lost for lack of pen and paper.

Thinking of the best way to do things has led me to believe that shoes are bad.
Universally.
I understand about hazardous circumstances (which may or may not include leaving your house) and barefootedness not really going together, but that just makes me think about the conditions that create the necessity of wearing shoes.  Broken glass?  Other unpleasant substances on the ground?  I can think of a bunch of "Best ways to do things" that could prevent those issues from ever even being issues.  These are things that can be fixed.  Also, what about all the time that we don't spend outdoors?
My toes want to be free!

Also, I just don't like wearing shoes.

Also, I don't like wearing pants.

Maybe it's just me.

It's not like I'm constantly running through thorny brush or something and need to protect my legs from things.  The entire idea of clothing and the historic notion of physical modesty is very backwards to me.  I'm no nudist, but like I said, I don't like to wear pants.  Shorts I can do, most of the time.
I definitely don't like belts or ties.

Actually, I do like belts, but only if I have cool stuff hanging from them, especially if I'm wearing more than one belt.  Then it just feels like I'm about to go on an adventure.

I guess you want pants for adventures...  shoes too...

I think the obvious lesson here is that we really need to work harder to live up to the inherent adventurousness of our wardrobes.

...

I'm not sure how good I am at blogging.

Thanks for reading anyway!


NEXT TIME:  Some Plans of Mine!

Welcome to the Manniverse.

"filter" sketch - from The Story of Celia

Hello there.

I had been undecided as to a topic for my first blog post (which is not anything important to anyone but me), but I have recently been inspired.  Inspiration hit while hearing one of my favorite artists talk about the what and why of his life's work.  Our tales are not entirely dissimilar.  

So, I will begin my blog, The Way of Mann, by simply telling you what it is that I do.  Perhaps you'll feel inspired as well.  That would be swell.

  

When I was a kid (maybe 8?  I'll guess 8... ), it occurred to me that most grown-ups had no idea how to talk to children.  I figured most people probably just forget how to think like children as they grow older and that's why most adults have no idea how to communicate with them.  I suspect the idea was somehow inspired by Peter Pan.  I believe this specific type of loss is also the primary factor that so-severely limits people's perceptions of the world.  Adults tend to place importance on much more "reasonable" values instead of focusing on gathering new experiences and making new discoveries.  They are prone to become dependent upon a single set of ideas and close off their minds.  Most tragically, they stop wanting to experience wonder and many stop using their imaginations.  With all of this in mind, I've made a conscious effort for the past two decades or so to keep myself continually in tune with those childlike aspects of myself. 

In short, I don't want to grow up.  I promised myself that I wouldn't.   Then and there, at the ripe old age of maybe-eight, I vowed to never stop thinking like a child;  to keep discovering;  to keep living through imagination.

That's important.

Moving onward, I create things.  At the most basic level, that is what I do.  I write stories and songs.  I make music.  I work leather.  I sculpt.  I draw - lots.  It's all compulsive.  However, my most important creations are my characters.  The words, pictures, and music are important, but they aren't nearly as important to me as these fictional people I've come to love and the worlds in which they exist.  You might think that's a bit silly, or a bit obsessive, but when you take into account the time I've put into them, even just in the past few years, it begins to make a lot of sense.

In late 2006 (maybe?), I began looking back over a bunch of characters and stories I'd created before I was 12.  I kept this specific material safely tucked away in a thick stack of manila folders that I probably "borrowed" from my classroom at the time.  I guess I packed away all of that stuff around 1995 or '96.  So here, ten years later, I came back to it all.  Most of it was less-than-stellar (as expected) though very cute, but there was a lot of it that shined.  It shined in a way that showed me I had not been entirely successful in keeping my promise to myself, especially through those too-many years of college.

Eight-Ball - range of motion study - from The Story of 8

Though most of my creative efforts at that time were concerted in music, college, and whatever bands I had going, I was working on some stories as well, namely a sprawling and whimsical sci-fi, The Story of 8, which was nearly destroyed when my computer and my backup drive (!) simultaneously crashed each other and I lost virtually an entire novel's worth of writing and research.  Forcing myself to start over on that project really did a number on my brain.  It took months of filling notebooks (a medium that couldn't be lost to the digital aether) with everything I could imagine about that story; its worlds and its people.  This was, at once, a depressing and inspiring experience.  It was shortly thereafter that I turned to my childhood's folders full of superheroes, spacemen, cartoons, and creatures.  I pored over years of sketchbooks and notebooks full of innumerable childhood ideas and my imagination began to spark to life like it hadn't done in years.  I then began the invigorating process of bringing all of these childhood ideas up to speed with my grown-up brain.

The result has been – in a word – awesome.

That about fills you in.  I've been working hard since then, writing and developing characters, worlds, and stories that I've been secretly living with for ten, fifteen, sometimes twenty years.  Though, of course, new ideas arrive all the time.  Here I've created a unified world, split into many realities (realities that have a tendency to overlap on occasion), densely packed with fantastic characters, amazing places, and lovable life-forms aplenty.  There are superheroes.  There are intricate alien cultures.  There are magical dream beasts, noble yachdi, and inquisitive land-squid.  There are experiences and discoveries here that are far more than I can describe in a single blog-post.  

I call it – the Seamworld.

That's important too.

I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to sell you on my ideas, even though I kind of am...  I just want you to enjoy them.  I've been sitting on all of these ideas for so long, keeping them inside, letting them grow, evolve, and stew.  Now, I want to bring my creations into the world for others to enjoy.   Stories.  Characters.  Music.  Worlds.  Ideas...  That's kind of scary.  I hope that they are loved.

Anyway, that's what I do.  I create things.  If nothing else, I feel like I'm better upholding my promise to my 8-year-old self.  I'm still refusing to grow up – and I'm using my imagination more than ever.

I'm launching this blog in conjunction with my new website.

You can learn lots about my creations there.

WWW.MANNIVERSE.COM

You should check it out if you haven't already.

Magnet Man symbol - from C.O.G.

I'm pretty new to the blog thing, by the way.

Let me know what you think.

Rest assured, subsequent posts will be shorter.