Torakhan's Journal

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Not a happy post. One of those dumb emo posts.
By the way, the following is just me venting. It's not intended for sympathy, or to get anyone's goat. Sometimes just screaming at the walls isn't enough.
( Emo bullshit hidden here... )

Don't worry, folks. It's just one of those dark times and sooner or later it'll pass well enough. They just come and go.

Current Mood: depressed

Update - New Laptop going well
Well, as some may know, I did actually get the Acer Aspire AS5536-5883 Laptop Computer and it seems to be a pretty good computer for the $475 (plus tax, extended warrantee, and pre-rebate purchases.)

For the money, I'm happy with everything. There's just a few hic-ups I wish were better:
• The monitor is a glossy screen, so the viewing angle is terrible unless you're looking at it from JUST the right angle. If anyone knows a tip or trick for this, I'd like to know (a covering, or film, or some other hack/option?)
• I got a 320GB Hard Drive, but only 288GB is even available before loading Windows on it. I've been told that this is normal... but, really? 10% of the HD space is wasted due to formatting? Hmmm. Oh, well. Still, it's got more storage than the 3 HDs on my desktop combined.
• Carrying cases are sized by the screen's diagonal measurement... which seems stupid to me since a screen can be different ratios. Mine is a wide-screen, which means that the case is 17" wide... not something that will likely fit in a typical case made for a 15.6" screen-size. I'm still on the hunt for one though. I just wish Acer or Tiger Direct had some suggestions to fit the laptop size
• I didn't realize until AFTER I had un-installed the McCaffee bundle that came with it that I needed to print/screen-capture its "read me" file in order to get my damn rebates. Now I'm stuck with an interesting question: "Do I suck it up and just take the $130 hit, or do I restore my computer to factory specs to get the $130 back and re-install everything again?" Is there an easy way to clone what I have now so that I can re-install again? Or maybe restore on another hard drive temporarily? This one was MY mistake... sure they don't make it easy, and I'm sure a lot of folks did the same thing I did, but I had the documentation on what to do BEFORE I even got the computer. I should have read them better.

Other than that, it seems to run pretty smoothly... Vista hasn't given me any grief, the I haven't had any programs not be able to install on it and I've got it looking like Win2K ("classic"). It doesn't seem to run hot to the touch, even after running 2nd Life and Photoshop on it for several hours, and battery life seems to be about 2-3 hours. There's some little glitches with my Wacom tablet, but I'm hoping that there's some settings I can change to take care of that (when I initiate a stroke on the pen, there's a slight pause, but after that, no problem until I pick it up and do it again... makes things like cross-hatching or small strokes difficult right now.)

I also immediately realized I did not want to deal with the finger pad (I've always hated them) and went to Staples and purchased a Logitech V220 USB cordless optical mouse. It works pretty well and I like the "turn off when USB plug slides into it for storage" feature. It'd have been cool if it had a pivot or something so that you could stick it upright when plugged in, or something, but it's only a minor hinderance for now (it's no longer than my thumb drive, so if it's sticking out, I don't see why the mouse can't either.)

Current Mood: pleased

A lonely weekend
Just feelin' kinda down this weekend.
All of my friends are out of town, busy or just unavailable to hang out with. It's a Final Haven weekend, so that's where some folks are. Others are just occupied with other things like working and the likes.

Lately I've tried to reach out to new friends, but that hasn't really worked out the way I'd hoped. I mean, it's not their faults they haven't been available, or are moving away and are stressing about things and I understand that. I just wish I had other friends around here that weren't LARPers, maybe gamers, but hopefully artists or people I could hang with and just feel comfortable around. I don't really even know other outlets (at least right now) where I could easily meet folks. Lately I've relied on the internet... a good place to be annonymous and open with folks at the same time, where you don't have to deal with crowds, loud noise, drunks or the uncomfortable way of breaking things off if it doesn't work out well.
I do get that the internet is limited, while there's many more options available out in the real world... but it just seems like maybe it's getting a bit too late in the game to try to meet folks unless I'm willing to start drinking, smoking, getting into sports or doing other things I really don't have any interests in anymore. I do have folks I'm familiar with online and are... "friends" of mine, but if we were to meet up in real life, I don't know if that chemistry would still be there. Internet friends are a whole other thing.

So, yeah.. just kinda feeling blah today.

Proof... of unintelligence on this planet
==RANT ON PROOF APPROVALS==

Every job we do, we submit a Proof Approval in some way or fashion. Even if people send us the PDF, I have to spend time creating a sheet with the information on it about what the job is and usually a reproduction of the imprint/item. On it we ask for very little: "Mark as 'OK as is', 'OK with Corrections', or 'Submit New Proof with Corrections'" as well as signature and date. There's even little boxes on it. This is to cover our asses when a customer wants 100 shirts, or 50 posters printed, and then saying "I didn't mean to print that. I'm not paying for it." and getting away with it. It has been developed because this sort of thing has happened. It protects us, and it protects the customer when WE screw up too.

We had to add to the sheet "By signing I am responsible for all errors contained in this proof, even if I didn't read it." because of the DOZENS of people we would get who would sign it without even looking at it.

We've had LAWYERS sign underneath the imprint rather than on the line.. no dates, no checked boxes. I consider this a decent test of just how responsible a lawyer's office is--if they can't be bothered to read and follow the direction on a proof for their own business cards or pens, why would they be reading or watching for the details on your stuff?

We also have people just Email back "When will this be ready?" as if that was good enough too.

So, even if someone provides us with a PDF of a flyer, and want it in a large quantitiy, I must spend 15 minutes creating a proof, only to have to email them 3 times to get the proper response because they're too goddamn lazy to scan/fax/stop-in with a signed proof like we ask... not just on the proof itself, but in the Email that accompanies it too!

Current Mood: annoyed

... for those OP fans out there.

I know there's a few of you out there who'll enjoy this more than others.

Optimus Prime doing Letterman's Top 10 list

Tiger gets his first Laptop -- Hello 21st Century!
July 4th weekend was pretty uneventful. With all of my friends either planning or actually going out for various parties and the likes, I pretty much stayed at home the whole weekend.

One big thing that happened was that I decided to get a laptop. I'd like to be able to watch movies, listen to music, go to WiFi spots, do Open Canvas, Photoshop and CorelDraw on the fly. I don't plan to do 3-D rendering, or play graphic-intensive games (no WoW, CoH, Star Wars, 2nd Life, or the likes.)
I decided to go with an Acer for $480. After doing some research on what a Photoshop machine needs, it seems to have everything they suggest (except for the 1333 FBS, but 800 will be fine, it suggested.) and I'm not impressed with the 5200 RPM hard drive (I'd prefer 7200), but I'll survive. If I ever decide that I need a laptop designed FOR photoshopping as a business expense and such, I'll look into a much more powerful machine... but as long as the laptop functions as it should, I think it'll be a good deal for what I'm paying and function how I want it to.
I've talked to a few folks who have Acers and they've been pretty happy with them. Other folks who've had issues say that those problems have shown up within a year. I have an extended warantee so it's covered for 3 years though.

It doesn't have some perks (that I know of) like a carying case, or docking station, but I think that I'll survive. :)
( Just some crap about the time it took to order and hope to receive the computer )

So.. yeah. Sometime shortly I'll have my (first) laptop and I'll see where I go from there.

... my software savy friends, I may be calling on you shortly. ;)

**EDIT**
Well, it seems that it is on time to be delivered on Tuesday. It shouldn't be surprising since we get deliveries from Chicago next-day at the shop every day. :) Here's to the hope that tomorrow I'll be sittin' with Matt at some WiFi location, doing installs, uninstalls and registrations.

Current Mood: hopeful

Rock Band 2 songs to play
It would seem that Rock Band 2 has about 500 songs available to play (one way or another).
Hmm.. At least here's a list for us to look at in our own time. :)

The Laptop Bug... I has it.
Soooo... I'm seeing so many deals right now on computers and... I'm trying to decide if it's time to crack and buy a laptop.

I think I can pretty easily swing $400, so I'm trying to find the best deal for my money. I don't mind refurbished machines or open-box items, as long as everything's there and someone's still there in case it fries shortly after I get it--I won't mind a scratch on the outside here or there.
I'm looking to do web-stuff (videos, browsing, maybe some Open Canvasing), Photoshop and CorelDraw vectoring, maybe watching movies and listening to music.
I guess if I get into Photoshopping on the go, the CPU and memory will be very important--not so much the video rendering, from what I've heard. So I guess dual-core and at least 2GB memory would be prefered.
Screen-size seems like it would be important too.. no smaller than 15".
VGA ports, S-video, or some way of using my or other larger monitors with it would be good too.
A brand, or even a model that folks use and have had good luck with (reliability) would be prefered too.
... I'm guessing that I'd probably want XP on it for now, unless Windows 7's "XP Environment" means that my Photoshop and other programs work on it just fine."

I don't actually NEED a laptop. It's much more of a "want". It'd be nice to think that with a laptop, I'd find myself with my Wacom tablet out at some WiFi place, logged into OpenCanvas and finally drawing with other artists as drawing with folks locally just isn't going to work. I'd like to think that I could do graphic design on the fly, have my files with me and be productive wherever I went.
Past history tells me that very likely, my laptop would be under-utilized as I found other reasons why it just wouldn't work the way my fantasy-brain would like it to.

New Dethklok Album September 9th
Saw the bump on Adult Swim last night.
New Dethklok Album coming September 9th.
Season III in production too.

http://www.myspace.com/dethklok

... Brutal.

Current Mood: ecstatic

Dreams... of Chicago?

I had this really weird dream last night...

I was offered a job in Chicago for a gaming company Crafty Games. The first day of work and the interview was the next day and I was trying to convince my mom and others that it was a good idea to just pack up and leave--I remember telling my mom that "I'll be working with a friend.. well, a friend of Matt's. He works with Pat too." Even I wasn't entirely sure that it was a good idea, but I was kinda just willing to take the uneasy chance since I didn't have a place to stay, nor did I know exactly where I was going. I remember trying to call Katie about a place to crash, but that idea kinda waffled. I woke up in the morning and tried to get ready... I remember trying to lace up my combat boots over bluejeans and being questioned "do you think that'll look good at your interview?" while I was asking myself if they were going to be comfortable to drive in for 4 hours. Meanwhile I began to realize I was going to be late too. "How am I going to make it there in less than three hours when it's going to take me at LEAST 3.5?" (yes, I remember the "3.5" specifically. *L*)
I then remember a looong drive through country roads, past rural houses on 2-lane highways and eventually finding myself in the city, realizing I was late, but there wasn't much after that. Maybe parking, but not meeting anyone, or getting out of the car.

Now... here's the funny thing: I have sometimes had dreams about GenCon, but oddly enough, they take place in Chicago of all places in a very particular building. The convention is much more of a club/event sort of thing with two different buildings containing the convention:
The one on the left (on the street) is large and circular, maybe 10 or so stories tall. The hallways are white and a deep blue with blue neon running lights along the ceiling and floors. The hallways run along the outside edge of the building with rooms more on the inside. Some levels are just completely open on the floor, containing parties, clubs, food courts and the likes. It's all very modern and full of people in garb, costumes and general convention-wear. I'm never working at it, just wandering around.
The other building is right next door, a bit more non-descript, but this is where the exhibit hall is located, along with other more official gathering locations (card games, larger lectures and such.) The two are connected by a 30 foot covered sky-bridge on several levels. Right along the street are shops and restaurants and the hotels are connected to the round building via skywalks as their hub.
To the side (I can only call it the East) is a parking garrage structure and through it leads to another set of hotels and eateries... the ideal location for such a convention, I'd assume. Some day maybe I'll try to draw it up.

At GenCon, no Embassy Suites for me. Marriott here I come!
So, tonight I decided just to look over my Gen Con hotel confirmation information again because I think they only have me scheduled to stay (as I'm volunteering as a Senior Volunteer) for Tuesday night through Monday morning (if they want me there bright and early on Tuesday, I'll probably need to sty Monday night too, like last year) when I realized that ... in fact I'm not staying at the Embassy Suites like last year. No sir! I'm in the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown... Yep! Back to being attached to the con directly via catwalk! I've never actually stayed at the Marriott, but I've stayed at the Westin right next door before. :D

The good points of this are that when I'm bored as all heck at night, I can go out and down to the convention center without having to talk a few blocks, and that I don't have to leave the air conditioning when I want to head back to my room. It's closer to the convention center, so if I need to run to my room between work and wandering the exhibit hall, it's a much easier task to drop crap off, or get stuff from my room. :D Plus the skywalk from the Marriott actually lands just feet from Exhibitor Services at the entrance of the food court. XD

On the other hand, no free breakfasts, no free drinks (not that I really partook in either that much last year anyways), and no entertaining room with extra seating so that you can hang out while the other person sleeps in their own room. Also, the cheaper parking will be a few blocks away, but I think I can handle that since I never drive during the convention (in 8 years or so, I've never had to get my car to drive anywhere. The only time I ever did was in Milwaukee and that was to go to a very far-away restaurant, I think.)

So... whoot! Marriott! Oh, how I've missed you! Be my friend again!

Longest day...
Happy Summer Solstice everyone. Enjoy the long day (if you're a fan of the fireball in the sky.)

This weekend has been pretty good. Friday was a day for relaxing... I think? I think I went to Golden Corral with Taki, Phil and Shana, but I don't remember, to be quite honest. Huh. And I don't even drink or the likes... everything just gets jumbled up in my noggin'.

Kyle was talking about going to Border Wars up at Bertha Brock in Ionia this weekend and I played with the idea of driving up there on Saturday just to check it out too... but...

Saturday I woke up late and got some Fricano's pizza for dinner, then headed out and saw The Hangover with Taki, Mike, Phil, Codie and Matt.
(I'd give it a B+. It was entertaining and did have some good moments... but there were a lot of points where it felt like they were setting up for a great burst of comedic energy or something, and then just let it fizzle and left me wondering why they didn't go for the punch. i.e., Ed Helms final scene where it literally just fizzles there on the screen and you know the words you want to hear, but they just don't come out.) But that's just my thought.

Afterwards, Phil went to Meijers and purchased Rock Band 2. We then spent the next several hours playing our new band "Grundlepumper" (which the game informs us will not be a usable name if we go Online with it... gee, I can't imagine why) with Matt "Muddy" on bass, Taki "Dono" on lead guitar, Mike "Hammerfist" (I mighta gotten that one wrong) on drums and Art "Tora" on vocals. Most of us were playing on Easy and mostly scored in the high 80's and 90's (by the end, we were toying with the Medium settings and still doing very well), while Mike found it easier to play on Expert setting because it better replicated how the drums were actually played... so for professional drummers, Expert is easier because it's closer to a simulation than an arcade game for them. ^.^
My problem with the game came with me having to sing songs I not only didn't know the words to (not a big issue with the game), but not even knowing the notes for the song either, leaving me with my ear to the speakers to hear the song's original vocalist to keep me on track. The songs are so... everywhere, that out of the first two "gigs" or whatever, I only knew 3 of the 8 songs enough to sing confidently.
We wrapped up around 3am and headed home.

Today is Deadlands... oh, that might be folks arriving now. Have a good one!

Current Mood: pleased

Couriosity...
Here is an image from the 4th season of Venture Brothers
as was posted on Jackson Publick's Live Journal entry:

Image from 4th season of Venture Brothers

And here's a drawing of mine for the Winter Haven "Cathedral" from last year

I just thought the similarities were enough to point it out and kinda chuckle at it. I'm sure a slate-gray cathedral with reg glowing glass windows isn't uncommon, but I found it amusing. :)

Current Mood: amused

The week is OVER! I delcare it. Get it outta here!
This was a day for a Second Friday... but by the time I got out, it was all but over anyways.

This week has been hella-stressful.
We've had rush-job after rush-job this week, and each one was a fast and easy job in concept, but execution wound up taking MUCH longer than anticipated. A job who's PDF was provided turned out that the file needed modifying to be printable, or the machine needed servicing and now the colors don't match the customer's proofs. On top of that there was just constant interuptions and our Project Coordinator does not handle stress well... and she loves to micro-manage me too. But I can't work any faster than I can, and like I mentioned in my last post, my boss understands that I'm working at a good rate, and we just have to figure some things out as to how the schedules work. But now the stress is over and I can try to relax...

I've got no real plans for the weekend. There's a chance of something happening in the later PM of Saturday, but not much else.
I'd like to draw, or work-out, or somehow end the week feeling like I've accomplished something, because I don't feel like I accomplished anything other than having worked 17 hours in the last 2 days this week. *sighs*

Anyways... yeah. Just sorta venting. meh.

On a side note, my arms are starting to peel from the sunburn I got... on Memorial Day... almost 2 weeks ago. WTF?! 3 days after? Maybe.. but... 10 days later? Weird.

Current Mood: stressed

June 11 update
Things are about as well as can be expected lately. Last weekend I was a bit... crazy with my money and over-spent. It's put a dent in my budget that I'll just have to re-arrange some things to accomodate, but I'll be fine. But... having had the Pizza Hut - Wing Street Garlic Parmasean boneless chicken three days in a row was very good. :D

Gaming has been okay. We did our Werewolf: the Apocalypse game this Wednesday... nobody died, but we got stuck with a Metis, and my character (pack leader) is getting fed up with the whole thing. He's only "Pack Leader" because he doesn't want to follow orders, and nobody else is really keen on being leader (ie., taking responsibility) and now he has to deal with a Metis and a Fianna who's worse than he at being controllable. He's considering walking away from the Pack, hell, the entire "being Garou" thing. It's only been 4 days and he's willing to handle being a wanted felon of the State of Texas for his assaults on officers and two escapes (the last one successful) from the facility.

Work has been... difficult. Miscommunications, bad scheduling, crazy rush-jobs completely interupting any sort of schedule there might have been and dealing with a pregnant project coordinator who's also decided she's also my art director makes work frustrating. But I get paid either way, and so I really try not to stress about it--my boss (the one who decides if I stay employed) knows I'm working hard and he's happy with the productivity that I have and that's what matters. Sooo, it's an excercise in self-control for me--When I start to get frustrated or angry, I swallow down hard just get back to work.

I still want to go see The Hangover and maybe even Land of the Lost too. Funds are still VERY tight, but.. *sighs* I may just wind up at the Festival of the Strawberry Moon this weekend too.

Also, I may have found a work-out buddy. We both seem interested, but we can't hardly meet up to draw, let along find two or three times a week to work out. but we'll see.

PETA ... another example of their craziness. Save the... fish?
http://www.grandhaventribune.com/paid/324810863059738.bsp

PETA wants to attain rights to the Grand Haven lighthouse and create a "Fish Empathy" education center and a "fake fish" food shop.

For years, lighthouses have helped protect those at sea, so it seems appropriate that they would be used to protect sea life, too," PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said.

In the letter, PETA Director Sarah King spells out plans to install educational displays and a 300-square-foot "fish empathy quilt." The group also wants to open a cafe at the lighthouse, which would serve faux fish sticks and other vegetarian food.

"The more that people learn about how intelligent and sensitive fish are, the less likely they'll be to stick a fork or a hook in them," Reiman said.

Want to read their crazy proposal? Check this crazy shit out.

Now, there are about a BAZILLION good examples of why these people should be removed from the gene pool themselves, but... seriously? What's bringing these people out of the woodwork and into West Michigan?

The sad part is that even though the lighthouse is one of Grand Haven's signature landmarks, the article seems to suggest that nobody from Grand Haven really can give a final say with what happens to it in this regard.

FUCK YOU, PETA. Get the fuck away from our pier.. get out of our goddamned city! You give a bad name to sane people who wish to treat animals ethically... Fucking extremists. *grr*

Current Mood: angry

June 3rd Update

The past week has been a good week. I got in touch with rantingmule at Starbuck's earlier in the week and we spent some hours drawing and chatting before he had to head off to do other more important things. Oh, well. It was fun to sit and draw and chat with someone again. I'm trying to get back into drawing weres again--Drawing werewolves was kinda where I started back in the early to mid 90's, and trying to get more into that "fearsome" appearance and away from the "human-like" or "gentle" look is proving more difficult than I'd suspected it would be.

Our Werewolf: the Apocalypse game ended with a bit of a pre-climax with one character (Cliath) telling off a triabal leader at a moot and being challenged for the remarks, while a semi-impromptu White Wolf "Mortals" game of military agents had a decent couple of hours itself (It'll be interesting if we play again.) Shadowrun had a few hic-ups as Travis and I couldn't find our characters and wound up playing new characters (Travis' was a bit more thought-out while I was just sort of playing a disposable template.) It's kinda nice playing a character that I didn't even bother to make up a back-story for... he's simply disposable.

We went and saw "Up" as well. I gotta say, it was a MUCH HEAVIER movie than I was expecting. I saw the trailers and thought to myself: "Hmm. An old guy who appears to be a cranky old man, but who decides to go on some sort of crazy adventure and winds up with this kid as they pal around on their adventure together." ... but.. wow. Seriously, the sort of "end of life, promises unfulfilled, and questioning 'what have you done with your life?'" sort of movie. I'd still have gone and seen it, but it wasn't what I was expecting. Even though it had an "uplifting" ending, it was a really sad and emotional movie for me.

Yesterday I took my mom to dinner at Stan's Cafe. She enjoyed her Lake Perch and I tried the Itallian Sausage (It was okay, but I think it was missing something... cheese?) I've had the Fish Sandwich and the Philly Cheesesteak there so far, and it's all been pretty decent. I wish them much luck.

This week looks like a quiet one for me--no plans, no games or anything. I have housework I need to do, but otherwise nothing is scheduled.

Long time no post... hmm.. May 23rd, huh?
It's been a long time since I actually posted anything decent here.
I've come close a few times... to give my comments about Wolverine (Meh. It was alright, but the CG failed on so many levels and Deadpool failed without his plucky banter that would make sense of the comical things like giant claws and 1984 computer-typed mind-control that wound up looking like we were supposed to take it seriously instead. We got the Deadpool ending which may have broken the fourth wall slightly?), Star Trek (Yeah! Awesome movie! Fun to watch and entertaining. Effects and nods to the fans were great) and Angels and Demons (never saw The Da Vinci Code (pre-sequal?), but I guess it could only be a reference for cinematic commentary. It was alright but it almost needed a pop-up screen to give you all of the information you were missing about each little historical fact that I'm sure made the book more convincing... but instead wound up feeling like you were missing out on some great flavor and instead just on some sort of action movie with a shallow story.) Tonight I may go see the new Night at the Museum movie. I never saw the original, sooo.. we'll see how that goes. I don't think it'll be that important to know who's what.

Work has been... getting better on an interpersonal level, but the economy and whatnot are hyper-emphesizing every mistake we make (business cards coming back from suppliers with the wrong stock, running a job and cutting it wrong, using the wrong plate, missing an email, etc.) We'll get through all of this... it's just stressful and it's not really anything we can contain... we just have to keep cool heads. Andrea will be going on maternity leave in August (though it could happen sooner) and we have to begin training a replacement/filler, but we're not sure if she's going to stay home or return. So that's kinda got us all a bit perplexed.

Artwork-wise... I don't know what's going on. A few sketches here and there, but for the most part... nothing. One day I want to get back to doing real drawing/finished works again. I don't know how I can force myself to do that, but I gotta. Even if that means going to digital/vector/design... I just want to be able to COMPLETE something again and feel happy that I accomplished something. 900 sketches and maybe 20 finished pieces over the last 8 years is not a good record. I got sloppy and I need to push myself to finish things. Last week I bought a $8 water-color bush/pen. I bought a gray one just to try it out... the idea of being able to do water-color/ink on the fly sounded too good to be true. I like the liquid properties, but it does dry damn fast, but I like the softer edges more than using gray markers. I'll keep experimenting with it.

In Gaming we've been running a Werewolf: the Apocalypse game and along with our Uktana (Kim), our Get of Fenris (Tim), and myself (Black Fury?), we have acquired a new player who's a Fianna (Nate), who a great match into our pack... and by that, he's an odd-duck and how we're going to manage as a pack is really up in the air, but the roleplaying is great so far. I think Nate's joining our gaming group is fantastic and he seems to like the story and the mechanics so far.
We are also looking at a Shadowrun 4th edition game that takes place in Austraila... but think Mad Max, Judge Dredd, The Matrix (real world, not in the computer) and the likes... where the continent is a bit of a wasteland, technology is scarece and society is rebuilding itself. It's a "wild west" of sorts. We (Matt and I) are still sort of hammering through the concept, even though I think we're both going in different directions. He'll be running it, so he gets his say, of course. :)
I've disconnected myself in most ways from the LARPs I was involved in. So even though I'm still there and join in on the conversations about mechanics, drama and whatnot, there is nothing to connect me to it. I've failed on another level though: Work has been so busy and I've been so burned out that I haven't been able to fulfill my printing duties that I've promised so far. I will get it done, I just need to re-anchor myself and just do it. It's just that if I stick around the shop after my "working hours" I wind up getting sucked into doing work because I'm there, and not paid for it, plus there's tension because they like to gripe at me for little things, or I expect them to and that just makes bad energy. But, still, I should do what I'm suposed to do.

I'm sad that my web host is going kaput, but I'll survive. I'll either live with some other "free" service that has banners for some time, or find a way to budget $6 or so bucks a month to cover a site that maybe only a handfull of folks see a month. It may inspire me to get off my rump and re-invent my site, figure out what I really want to do with it, and how I want to present myself.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. But I'll leave you with this.

Ravage USB Thumbdrive for $45, shipping in September

Ravage as a working 2GB USB Thumbdrive for about $45 (ships in September, preorders ~~being taken now~~ sold out)

Furnation going kaput! May be in need of web site host soon.
I checked my hotmail account the other day to find a message from the person in charge of my web site host who has decided he doesn't want to run a web site by begging for donations each month (and funding the rest out of his pocket.) Supposedly the server will go down on the 23rd, so I've downloaded all of my content just in case... this isn't the first time I've lost a host, nor with such haste, but it's been a long time. There's still some chance that it may remain, or someone else may take it over (I really don't like the idea of all of my direct URL links going dead), but maybe I need to look at paying the $6/month for a basic host. I could probably budget it... *sighs*

So, yeah.. in a few days, if your links to http://www.furnation.com/torakhan/ go dead, that's why.. and they may not return.

This does give me the excuse to go to my web site and do some major over-hauling that needs to be done... new direction, new content, pruning and such.

So, yeah... I may be needing a new web host shortly.
www.doteasy.com has a "free hosting", but there's a $35 "hosting transfer fee" (for an additional $25 I can transfer my domain to them)
www.bluehost.com is inexpensive, but a monthly fee nonetheless.

There are some other suggestions for free web site hosting found here:
http://www.thefreesite.com/Free_Web_Space/

Anyone have suggestions? Especially with their own experience?

Happy May 1st, friends.
Enjoy your May Day as you see most fit and fun (doesn't hurt that it can lead into a fun weekend either...)
(if you need inspiration, listen to "First of May" by Jonathan Coulton for inspiration ... warning, adult content!)

Dang, if I didn't scan all of the sketches the other night that I havent' gotten to in a while... but now they're up and done.
I'm still having 633 errors. That's VERY frustrating as the only way I've found to get the "port" cleared is to restart the computer or unplug my USB modem and plug it back in. This does one of two thing: 1) I can reconnect with no problem. 2) plugging it back in auto-restarts my system. I can go a day or so without this problem, and some nights it happens 10 or more times. It may be getting close to a system re-install... I hate reinstalls, especially on dial-up. It will take me days to download all of the patches and such. :(

Last night was scheduled to be our Werewolf: the Apocalypse game, but things started getting late, so we opted for dinner. A gathering of us went to Godlen Corral and feasted there for a few hours and then headed to Phil's where more people showed up. I stayed there until about Midnight and then left.

Work's been crazy busy lately. Last year, starting around March, I was reduced in hours and for the last 8 or so months I've been working 6-hour days. But this last few weeks, holy crap have we been pounded with orders. Now, mind you, it's the beginning of the Summer season for ordering things like shirts and bumper stickers and the likes, as well as the reserves of things folks have been waiting to reorder have finally begun to run out and they need things printed again. My HOPE is that it's the first signs of businesses spending money again and that even though it's going to be a while before the economy/jobs start coming back up, this is the first step in the right direction. :)

Anyways.... back to work for me.

Have fun, y'all!

Current Music: "First of May" by Jonathan Coulton