December 29, 2010 (Weds)

Nothing much today.  Spent most of the day trying to fix a PC, which kept going through cascading failures.  Looks like the power supply may be dead now.  Bought a new hard drive for it, but that doesn't seem to be the problem now.  Fortunately the new drive isn't even out of the shrinkwrap, so I can return it.

Watched some Lynda.com Flash tutorials.  I've decided that's going to be the animation package of choice for me.

Late last night I did some drawings, but only silly ones.

Update:  well, I thought I'd try installing OS/2.  Again.  Big mistake.   You'd think as great as the software is, it'd be a little flexible.  Oh well.

Off to tomorrow.

December 28, 2010 (Tues)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  It was a time when I spent most of the day driving.  So, no on time update.  I am home, safe and sound, but not happily.  Thus the late entry.  Perhaps tomorrow will see something new?  We'll see.  In the meantime, well, we'll see you tomorrow...or later today, if I'm lucky.

December 27, 2010 (Mon)

Well, this is late because I didn't do anything today!  See you tomorrow.

December 26, 2010 (Sun)

Snowing in Wilmington, which it's not supposed to do.  Something over 8 inches in Asheville.  It's official:  I won't be leaving for Asheville today.  Fortunately Leela should be okay.

Update: weather seems to be worse than I thought.  Maybe I won't even leave tomorrow.  Getting antsy.

Update 2: drew a (bad) comic strip, seems like that will be it for today.

December 25, 2010 (Sat)

Christmas day, and things are very nice.  No real creative work done, except a Christmas drawing.

It's snowing horribly in Asheville.  Which means I probably won't leave tomorrow.  I'm hoping I'll be able to leave Monday.  Argh, argh, argh.

Things to do, etc.  Ideas to have.

Update:  nothing creative done today.  See you tomorrow.

December 24, 2010 (Fri)

Well, I fixed the DVR-DVD problem (turns out the latter was set on the wrong channel).  As it's Christmas Eve, it's doubtful I'll do anything else.  But we'll see.

Update: and it's 11:30 PM, and I've just been enjoying the holidays.  See you tomorrow!

December 23, 2010 (Thurs)

And it's a brand new day.

Saw "True Grit," which was excellent.  No real depths, or profundities, just a good story well told.

I drew a cartoon.  More than I've done in a few days.  Also, trying to figure out how to record from a DVR to a DVD-recorder.

Not sure what else is on the horizon.

Update:  DVR-to-DVD being problematic, but it is being left to tomorrow.  See you then!

December 22, 2010 (Weds)

Lots of traveling (over five hours), all the way to Wilmington.  Nice low key visit so far, but one suspects that little if any creative work will be done...if the one suspecting happens to be me.  Or you.

We'll see what might go on.  No paints or instruments, but I do have the Wacom tablet with me.

Update: watched "His Kind of Woman" and enjoyed it again.  Nothing else for today.  Once again, this is overdue for posting...

To tomorrow.

December 21, 2010 (Tues)

Up somewhat early, but not out of bed until after 9.  Checked email--very nice these days.  Then I built a small noise piece using the new Theremin and Jekyllizer.

Five miles on the treadmill (same thing yesterday, let me add).  Packed up some stuff for the journey tomorrow.

Update:  car is loaded and ready to go.  Rather be going in the opposite direction, but things are what they are.

See you tomorrow, maybe.

December 20, 2010 (Mon)

Up late, overindulging.  Don't feel terrible, but don't feel like attempting anything creative.

Update:  got a theremin in the mail, as well as another small noise-maker.  Cool!  I am inspired to do something with them, but that will not happen tonight.  Nothing has happened today.

See you tomorrow!

December 19, 2010 (Sun)

Well, I'm back.  The bad news, got a notice from the IRS that I owe money.  Well, they can wait.

The good news is the best news I've had in decades.  I don't want to jinx it by going into details, but suffice to say that this weekend has left me very, very happy.   And if the price that heaven sets for my happiness is a note from the IRS, then I can say that heaven is a petty, spiteful place and, if I may quote, "And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you!"

Update: past 8:30 and I'm at odds about what, if anything, to do tonight.  Disconnected.

Update 2: I'm posting this on Monday.  Forgot about it for the rest of the evening.  For the record, I didn't really do anything.

December 18, 2010 (Sat)

Out of town, no creative work done. 

December 17, 2010 (Fri)

Out of town, no creative work done.

December 16, 2010 (Thurs)

Out of town, no creative work done. 

December 15, 2010 (Wed)

Up rather late last night, and up late this morning.  No ideas about doing anything, except perhaps treadmilling.

Update:  did five miles on the treadmill, and thought about setting up the electronic drums.  I tend to do a lot of thinking when I'm away from home and, thus, can't do any of the things I'm thinking of doing.

I'll be out of town this weekend and I suspect I'll be doing a lot of thinking.

Update 2: well, I cleared out the area with the electronic drums (lots of dead spiders and insects) and I figure I'll try to get them arranged logically.  I know which are which, and have made labels for them.   The control box certainly doesn't want to stay upright; I'll have to fix that.

Update 3:  well, the control box decided it would most like to sit on the floor.  Hm, kay.  The others are slightly cooperative, though there seems to be a bit of a problem with getting them on different levels, like an actual drum kit.  I've got the two "cymbals" up high, but it's kind of sort of looking like the others would like to be there, too.  I'll have to hunt down the manual it seems.

Tomorrow I'll be out of town, through Sunday, so updates are unlikely.  Should I get the chance, though...

See you shortly.

December 14, 2010 (Tues)

Digitized the Blue Ridge video with pretty good quality.   I'm impressed with what the Sony software can do.  Next I think I'll digitize the night video.

Update:  did five miles on the treadmill.  My doctor wanted to increase the level of medication I'm taking, and it made me really ill during the exercise routine.  Of course, I was supposed to take the medication with food, but I find my appetite has gone down rather a lot.  We shall see if the same thing happens tomorrow.

Update 2: this is going to be another "nothing" day.  I can't seem even to force myself to do anything creative.

Update 3: digitized the night drive video.  Also, I found out that Leela is afraid of wrapping paper!

See you tomorrow.

December 13, 2010 (Mon)

Well, I finished the Gun5 animation soundtrack, take 2.  A much better version I think.

No big news from the doctor, everything seems to be going well.  I see her again in late January.

Update:  well, a slow day, but that's all right.  I'm currently re-capturing the Blue Ridge Parkway video I took a few years ago (doing this on another computer, obviously) and I suspect that will be it for the day.

I'm looking forward to doing the BR soundtrack.  It's going to need subtlety.   It's also 50 minutes long, so I might end up building a symphony for it.  A challenge, which I'm hoping Sony has solved the first bit: getting the video without blocky awefulness.  We'll see.  So far, Sony software is doing really well with everything I throw at it.

Santa was received by the recipient, who says she is thrilled.  Awesome. 

See you tomorrow.

December 12, 2010 (Sun)

Up before 6 AM, to be greeted by a massive snowfall.  Tired, I went back to bed.  It's after 11:30 AM now and a lot of it seems to've melted, which is good as I'd rather not drive in it tomorrow morning to the Dr's office.

And around 3 PM, it's snowing again.  Rather lightly, but still.  Surprisingly enough, I'd really like to make this appointment.

Update:  seems to have stopped snowing for now, which is good as the sun's down and one cannot count on its work to melt it away.

I worked on adding a soundtrack to "Gun5," the TrueSpace animation I did ages ago.  I got something acceptable, but I think I can do better.

Update 2:  did some better work.  Off to tomorrow.

December 11, 2010 (Sat)

Up fairly early, but stayed in bed.  Went out and found a couple of gifts, so that's good.  Lots of nice shops in Hendersonville that sell artwork.  It'd be nice to sell artwork.

Not sure what to do today.  Probably go out and do some more miles on the treadmill, but that will be later.  In the interim, I'm not sure what to work on.

Update:  did five miles on the treadmill.  And that's about it.  I seem to be in a painting lull, and my explorations of animation stuff is going a bit too slowly to really get any momentum.

See you tomorrow.

December 10, 2010 (Fri)

Up late last night, trying to paint without a lot of usable result.

I've decided I cannot be trusted with alcohol.  The last three times I have overindulged beyond what might even be remotely reasonable.  I simply cannot have it in the house and will refuse it if offered elsewhere.

I'm thinking I need to work on computer animation.  TrueSpace or Flash?  Let's find out.

Update:  did another 5 miles on the treadmill.  Used my Kindle instead of the video player, and I was noticeably bummed by the end of the fourth mile, but it sure beats the video player for portability.  I may try that again.

Fired up TrueSpace.  Holy Hannah, this thing is crowded with stuff.  Fortunately I downloaded all the training videos, so we'll see if that helps.  I am intimidated by the interface.  I would certainly not call it "intuitive" by any stretch.

Off to tomorrow. 

December 9, 2010 (Thurs)

Up around 8, off to mail Santa, then off to do laundry.  Thrilling, yes isn't it?

Update:  It's after 6:30 and other than grocery shopping and some reading, I've done nothing.  I have a feeling the night is going to be like this.

Well, I did 5 miles on the treadmill.  First time in several months, and I don't feel any pain in my feet, so I may do more as the week plays out.

Update 2:  and that's a wrap.  See you tomorrow.

December 8, 2010 (Wed)

Feeling a bit worse for wear today.  I'm anticipating doing pretty much nothing.

Update:  recorded a couple of minutes of guitar noise.  The last bit, using almost all the pedals (Thrash Metal wouldn't work) and turning the reverb's "Mix" button all the way to the right, gave me some eerie orchestral noises with no attack.  Very atmospheric.  I'm thinking I can certainly use it somewhere.

And so much for today.

December 7, 2010 (Tues)

Up today around 8 AM, but then back to bed.  I'm forgoing swimming this week to try and beat this cold.  The problem is, without the morning routine, there's nothing to anchor the day to and thus, the day just drifts.  Lots of resting, not because I'm tried but because there's nothing to do.  So this week will be a bit iffy all around.

Today I talk to the nutritionist to see what kind of foods I can and cannot eat.

Update:  lots of good info from the nutritionist.  Lots of literature as well.  I'm thinking I have a good handle on this, as I've already been cutting out sugars.  She says that I should look at total carbs instead, though, with an offset in "Dietary Fiber."

Did a smidge of painting on the original apples painting.  I think I have the extra ring looking good on its own, and it doesn't blend into the urn any more.  Next I need to give it a shadow and that one should be done without any nagging, "What about the handle?" question.

December 6, 2010 (Mon)

Slept way late.  I'm going to hold off swimming this week until this stupid cold gets beaten.

No work done today.  Let's see what happens tomorrow.

December 5, 2010 (Sun)

Back from the weekend.  I've been looking at Santa and seeing small things that bug me, so I'm going to made tiny adjustments to it during the rest of today.   Probably Thursday morning it should be dry enough to mail.

Update:  a bit more tweaking.  I think it's done.  Hoorah, etc.   Yes, it looks to be done.

Now what?

Update 2: did a bit of painting on the original Apples pic.  Off to bed.

December 4, 2010 (Sat)

Out of town and out of reach until Sunday. 

December 3, 2010 (Fri)

I'll be out of town until Sunday, so I'm doubtful that I'll do any creative work.  See you late Sunday.

December 2, 2010 (Thurs)

Up around 7 AM, but back to bed.  I was up pretty late last night trying to make sure my music files had names less that 256 characters (including folder names).  This had to be done so that they could be backed up.  I think I got them all but I guess I won't know until I try the backup again.

I finished the Santa project.  Then I found a box to mail it in.

Update:  not much else.  Made a cute mailing label for Santa.  Started reading about Flash.

Update 2:  started on Gun 5 to add a soundtrack.  And that's about it for today.

See you tomorrow.

December 1, 2010 (Wed)

Well, I overindulged last night, and am paying the price for it today.  Sick as a dog, didn't get out of bed until 5 PM, etc etc.  Probably unlikely that I will do anything creative today, nor go swimming, but I'm keeping my options open.  Stupid stupid stupid.

Update:  well, I played with ACID a bit, but otherwise did nothing today.  Let that be a lesson to you all.  See you tomorrow.  

November 30, 2010 (Tues)

Up late last night, watching Michael Palin in "Pole to Pole."  It's another Netflix series that's going off instant view.  Up around 8:30, told myself I was too tired to go in swimming, but then did anyway.  Also got gas and dropped some stuff (books and a lamp) at Goodwill.

Went shopping and bought some vegetables (yay) and some beer (nooo).  I also configured my NAS so it would back up my stuff on a regular basis to an external hard drive.

I am, for some reason, itching to fire up ACID again, just to see how well I can manage it.

Update:  more Michael Palin, episode one of "Yes Minister" and "The Mind Robber" from Doctor Who.

Did some very good work on Santa.  Really coming along nicely.

And tomorrow calls.

November 29, 2010 (Mon)

Another night of bad sleep, but up before 8...then back to bed.  Awoken by the phone around 8:30, and went to the pool and did fifty laps.  Go me!  Hope it doesn't make the cold worse.

Sorted through the painting photos and got ones that I thought looked best (and most accurate) so that's, what, part two of about six?

Update:  well, I went through the photos, trimmed them, did some color correction and contrast work.  They should be ready to place in the Oils file, and then upload.  I'm going to hope that this works.  We'll see.

Update 2:  well, that's done.  Despite the training in DreamWeaver, I don't seem to know my way around too well.  Still, it's finished and looks good.

Update 3:  it's that time of the month again, when Netflix decides to start dropping stuff from instant view.  So I'm going to watch "The Running Man" while I can, and I'll see you tomorrow.

November 28, 2010 (Sun)

Up at 8:30, then back to bed.  A difficult sleep last night made me too tired to bound from the bed.  Last night my main NAS unit decided it was...well, not going to be accessible.  Rather than panic, I thought I'd just give it some time to decide otherwise and apparently, some time during the night, it did.  All is good with it.

Into the pool around 11:30.  Then to the store for more baby aspirin, as well as some diet soda (ugh) and pretzels.  Also some blank DVD cases, a label-maker and some more ink for the printer.  (It's telling me it's a bit low, which I guess is understandable considering the DVD covers, which are fairly graphic-intense.)

Update:  well, I cut the DVD covers for the cases, and they seem a bit off.  I may reprint them.  Or not.  I also went through the photos I took yesterday and marked the usable ones.  A couple of the paintings didn't photograph well at all, which I think is okay since I have other photos of them which will work just fine.  Because I don't have all my paintings with me, I was going to adapt the original page anyway rather than generate it from scratch.

Did some painting on Santa.  Still looks good to me.

Update 2: more work on Santa,. looking better.  I did reprint the covers for Suspended Sentence, I'll try to do a better job cutting them.  I wonder why they didn't line up with the corner, like the Doppelganger ones?

Ah well.  And to tomorrow.

November 27, 2010 (Sat)

Up around 8 AM.  Not really sure what to do with myself.  I'm sure I'll do more paint work, but not now.

I should also finish up the DVD cover for "Suspended Sentence" but that means putting the DVD in the drive, which I also don't want to do now.

Hmm.

Update:  well, I photographed all the finished paintings I have in the apartment.  This took a lot longer than you might think, as I had to set the stupid things on the wall, then photographed them several times at exposures ranging from 2 seconds to a tenth of a second.  I haven't looked at them yet, but there have to be some usable ones in there.

I want to use these to update my pathetically old "Paintings" page on my website.  So really, what I did wasn't even a complete chapter.  I still have to select them, resize them, fire up DreamWeaver, place them, and upload them.  Fun.

After I took them all down, I rearranged them on the walls.  I think I should have enough space now to hang all of them, but I suppose we'll find out when I put the rest of them up in the bedroom.

Update 2: finished the cover for "Suspended Sentence."  Which meant I watched it for the credits, and truth be told, it's not bad.  Some of the acting is lacking, but that's not my fault.  It has a great cover, now!

Also did some work on Santa.  Shaping up well.  I may do some more of that tonight, but I'll post this in the meanwhile.  On to tomorrow.

November 26, 2010 (Fri)

Another slow say.  Up shortly after 8, and into the pool around 9.  Pool surprisingly crowded; for the first time, my strategy of bringing my Kindle along was put to the test.  I guess folks are trying to work off Thanksgiving.

Update:  some good painting work.  Satisfactory results on Santa, PB2 Panel 5, and Leng.  More to come, perhaps.

Update 2:  more painting, including work on Storm and Island.  Plus, I think I've found a way to fix the "floating ring" in Apples!

Lots of good work tonight.  On to tomorrow.

November 25, 2010 (Thurs)

After signing off last night, I did a bunch of painting.  Today, I got into the pool early (around 7:30) or so, since the pool is closing at 2:00 for the holidays.

Update:  well, it's nearly 8 PM and I've done pretty much nothing.   I guess I'm not terribly worried, but I do seem to be very tired all day today.

Update 2:  well, it's a bit after 11 PM and I think it's official:  I'm not doing anything creative today.  (Now watch as I go paint for hours.)

See you tomorrow!

November 24, 2010 (Wed)

Slept badly last night.  Had the idea for doing a "Suspended Sentence" DVD cover.  Why not?  I could just take the Doppelganger one, delete the text and artwork and redo.

Update:  did some of that.  Also did some work on Santa.  Bought a ham for Thanksgiving, and a can of tuna for Leela.

Update 2:  did more work on Santa, coming along nicely.  And I think that will do for today.

November 23, 2010 (Tues)

It seems to be almost impossible to make a DVD from an AVI file without idiotic audio clipping ruining everything.  This is absurd:  I've got everything except a way to get stuff so other folks can see it.

The above was written extremely late last night, after some overindulgence as well.   And I'm paying for both today - illish and tired.  I doubt anything will happen today, but I DO want to make this stupid DVD somehow.

Update:  I've been able to make exactly two copies of this thing.  I'd like four, but each of these DVDs has taken about six disks each to create!   Either I've got terrible programs or these DVDs are bad.

Update 2:  Well, I'm guessing it was the DVDs for the most part, though the software was also rather hit-or-miss.  Anyway, I got my four copies.  And I'm too tired to do anything else.

See you tomorrow.

November 22, 2010 (Mon)

Went swimming for the first time since last Wednesday.  Nice to know I can still do it.

Spent a bit of slightly frustrating time trying to print the DVD cover.  Finally got what I wanted...after three wasted attempts.  I'm not sure why printers can't simply tell you the orientation of paper, rather than use symbols which have to be decoded.  Oh well, at least it got done.

Update:  In the back of my mind while working on Doppelganger, the thought did occur to me:  what will I take up when I'm done with it?  That moment has now arrived, and I have no idea.

Update 2: well, I've now spent several hours trying to burn DVDs so I can actually fit them into the cases (which look great, by the way).  Not much else of note done.   A bit of work on Santa and it seems to be coming along fine.

See you tomorrow.

November 21, 2010 (Sun)

A slow day.  I got some screencaps of possible cover images for a DVD label for Doppelganger.  Not sure how to place them, though.  InDesign, maybe?

Update:  Well, I'm using InDesign to create the DVD cover.  This is kind of surprising, because I haven't even touched InDesign, ever.  Although a lot of it is very arcane, and I can't seem to get certain things (angled text, for example) that I'd like, still...that's probably the shortest learning curve I've experienced.

A bit of painting but nothing really major.   And then tomorrow.

November 20, 2010 (Sat)

Well, I thought I'd relax and watch the 1980's remake of The Blob.  But part 12 kept nagging at me, and I'd take various breaks to work on sound things.  And I got it finished.

The next step is to put them all together and see what needs to be papered over.  Which sounds like a good Saturday job.  (It's a bit after 3 AM as I type this.)

Update:  I assembled part two, then went in and wallpapered over all the weak transitions.  So part two looks really, really good (and sounds great, too).  The problem comes with part one--now the soundtrack there just seems...not as good.  Do I want to redo the whole thing?  No.

Well, to be fair, part two's soundtrack is quite dense and plays to the action much better.  I hadn't realized just how much could be done within the Sony software.  So, I will probably go in and give each chapter of part one a good, solid look, but I think much of the current soundtrack will probably do quite nicely as is.

Update 2:  And it's done.  I reworked the first seven chapters, not so much replacing things as just enhancing them.  Created part one, and then joined it to part two.  Doppelganger, the Special Edition, is done.  Maybe I should think about a nice cover image for it.

Right now, I'm moving most of the source files to the NAS to free up some C Drive space.

And I think that's a good day's work.  See you tomorrow!

November 19, 2010 (Fri)

I finished up Part 11 last night.  Loaded up part 12, but right now I'm feeling far too sick to contemplate working on it.  We'll see how the rest of the day pans out.

Update: I've done most of it.  Still a few bits to add here and there.  I don't really know if I want to do any more tonight, so I'm going to post this now.

See you tomorrow.

November 18, 2010 (Thurs)

Difficult night last night.  I think I am getting, at the least, a cold.

No swimming today, as noted yesterday.

Went out and bought some cold medication.  Let's hope this does something good.

Update:  well, I completed DG part 10, and this one was a bear.  A fun bear, though.  I thought I might add some effects to the dream sequence, and this turned out to be more arduous and time-consuming than I originally thought.  The end result looks really good, though.  Sound track completed as well, and on the whole it works.

It's only a bit after 8 at the moment, but I already feel somewhat tired.  Nonetheless, let's see what the rest of the evening holds in store.

Update 2: worked some on DG 11, coming along nicely.  Perhaps will be done tonight?  We'll see!

And to tomorrow.

November 17, 2010 (Wed)

I finished up the "resurrection" scene last night, and put all of Part One together in one clip.  It works pretty well, though in some cases the volume is a little off.  And I'm still not sure if the driving scenes need more audio work.  But overall I'm happy.

Loaded in the next clip and wow, this one is going to be hard.  It's almost entirely scenes of a car driving, so it's going to be hard to make it interesting.  Oh well, a challenge isn't bad.

Fifty laps in the pool.  All in one go.  While I certainly don't want this to become a habit, it's nice that I can do it without any strain.

I don't think I'll go to the pool the rest of the week, however.  I'm feeling rather unwell, and I hope it isn't the flu.  Not sure what sources of vitamin C I can eat/drink.  I ate some carrots and that seemed to help, oddly enough.

As for DG Part 8, it all went really well.  The soundtrack is multi-layered and works really well for what is almost entirely driving scenes.  It makes me want to redo all the rest of them.  (Not really.)

Part 9 is the bleeding photograph.  That should be less of a challenge, though I hope I can do as good a job.

Update: not too bad on the photo scene.  And on to tomorrow.  

November 16, 2010 (Tues)

Up shortly before 7 AM, and into the pool around 8:45.  Did fifty laps in the pool, which is certainly not usual but doesn't seem that difficult.   I even managed to do them before the swim class started at 10, which was a real surprise.

Added sound to part 5 of Doppelganger.  Loaded up part 6, and we'll see how well that goes.  I think part 7 is the murder scene, which ought to be fun.

Update: well, Part 6 had the murder, and I've made it even more unsettling now.   Part 7 is the brief resurrection, which I may be able to do tonight.  It's only a bit after 10 after all.

Bored and depressed.  Not sure why.  Cat is also restless.  Must be the onset of the holiday season or something.

Update 2: almost finished with scene 7, but wanted to post this before midnight.  See you tomorrow.

November 15, 2010 (Mon)

Up pretty late working on paintings and soundtrack stuff.  For the latter, I was trying to tweak the closing credits music to include the main title.  More difficult than I thought, with some work still to go.

Swam around noon.  Rainy day today, so not much impetus to travel.  Even the cat doesn't want to go out.  By the way, Leela ate her regular cat food without any fuss.  With enthusiasm, even.

Scored a complete section of Doppelganger (part 4) relatively quickly.  A nice little rollicking theme, with a touch of the main title tossed in.

And then, it's tomorrow.  See you then.

November 14, 2010 (Sun)

Leela Day.  Got up and swam around noon, pool surprisingly crowded.  (I saw the parking lot Saturday night and it was practically deserted at 7PM.)

Removed a bit of soundtrack that shouldn't have been there.  (I can't remember why I put it there in the first place.)  I feel up for more soundtrack work, let's hope I get some good stuff done.

Gave Leela a whole can of tuna for her anniversary.  I think she won't be happy tomorrow when it's back to the regular ol' cat food.

Update: I completely scored section 13, which is over four minutes of footage.  I'd already done a few seconds, and it was nice to finish it up.  (Note:  clearly I am not doing the sections in numerical order.)

And on to tomorrow.

November 13, 2010 (Sat)

Overindulged last night, which I am no longer supposed to do.  I honestly don't feel bad this morning, I suspect partly because the overindulgement wasn't too much.

I've actually done some work the last Saturday or two, but before that pretty much nothing happened on this day of the week.  So my expectations are low.

And honestly I'm fine with that.  I'll let you know if anything happens of note.

Went for a drive, during which a great idea for the typing sequences came to me:  spoken nonsense, about on a level with typing.  Recorded some "fake German" which sounded great.

Update:  Well, I scored almost the entirety of the second section, apart from the main title sequence.  Then I found some great end title music and finished the end titles!  I even added a bit to the section before the end titles.  At this rate I'll be finished before, oh, 2012 or something!

Update 2:  finished the main title music.  So now three of the fourteen parts are done.  Of course, they're among the shortest bits so I've still got quite a bit of work to go.  Still, nice to see progress, eh?

On to tomorrow. 

November 12, 2010 (Fri)

Up late (fairly late, anyway) adding more soundtrack to Doppelganger, and guess what!  What?  The first part is done!  Ha ha ha.  The next part is the main title and some typing footage, so that shouldn't take as long.  Nice to have some momentum going.

Got my swimming done eleven-ish.  Went to the Parkway and shot some video.  Beautiful weather.

Update:  did some good painting work on several canvases.  Paint Blog 2 Panel 5, After the Storm, Santa 2010, Anna.  I think the last added apple on Apple Birds looks really good.

I'm satisfied for a Friday.  See you on Saturday - the day of rest! 

November 11, 2010 (Thurs)

Up before 8AM, which is good.  Medication and diet changes are having some effect, though I still believe a lot of it is psychological.

Got in swimming somewhat latish, around 12:30 or so.  Still, it feels good.

Made a video using still images.  Kind of fun, but no great shakes.  Doppelganger still intimidates me.

Update:  well, I worked on Doppelganger a bit.  I am past the one minute mark now!  Hoo hah, only 39 or so to go.

Update update:  I actually added some more soundtrack.  Some stuff works really well.  Maybe I'll even do some more, but right now I ought to post this.  See you tomorrow!

November 10, 2010 (Wed)

Slept fairly well last night, only woke up once to urinate.  I suspect that's due more to psychology rather than some instantaneous results, but heck, I'll take it.

Got to find healthy snacks.  The ability to eat at night is not one I want curtailed to a great extent.

Did my laps around noon.  Yesterday, I did fifty in one session, which was bizarre.  Just did them all without a break.  Must be some other kind of psychological benefit.

I think I will go swim again.

Update:  I did.  It was fun.  Bought some sugar-free stuff at the store to explore the world of sugar-free snacking.

No real creative work done today, but I feel upbeat about the possibilities, rather than despairing.  So there is that.  Not much perhaps, but enough.

And to tomorrow.

November 9, 2010 (Tue)

Up somewhat late last night, forcing myself to add sound to Doppelganger.  So I did the first nineteen seconds, the logo sequence, and it turned out pretty well.  I think that's less than one percent, but hey, it's better than nothing.

Doctor appointment at 9:30.  Not enough time (or desire) to go swimming beforehand, so I'll wait and do various small things.

Well, it's official, I have diabetes.  The doctor is very hopeful, though, and I'm encouraged as well.  I needed to eat more properly anyway, and this certainly qualifies as an excuse!

Swam 50 laps in the pool today.

Update:  a little bit of painting, but not much else, other than a bit of cartooning.

On to tomorrow.

November 8, 2010 (Mon)

Slow day today.  Got up and into the pool around 9:30, then back, then out again for a drive.  Bought some new earplugs.

Did some painting work, on Sculpture-Face and Voodoo.  Very nice on the former, and some help with the latter.  The latter looks so flat.

Not sure if I'll go and swim again.  Maybe.  Feeling tired, but I always enjoy it.  (It's the preparing and going there that I find I dread the most.)

Tomorrow to see the doctor.  Wish me luck!

Update:  did a bit more painting here and there.  And now tomorrow calls.

November 7, 2010 (Sun)

Daylight Savings Time day, one that always comes across as somewhat disorienting.  Swam around 11:30 AM (new time), paid some bills, bought some groceries (and batteries).  Not sure what else I'll do; the day feels weird.

Update: well, it's a bit after 10:30 PM and I know I'm not going to do anything worth writing about tonight.  Until tomorrow, then.  

November 6, 2010 (Sat)

Very, very cold.  Some snow on the rooftops.  Since this is Saturday, I'm not really expecting anything to happen.  But who knows?

My cat decided she wanted me to be around her.  Just to keep an eye (or an ear) on me, I think.  She wants the ambient company.

Went for a drive, one purpose of which was to buy new ear-plugs.  But Dicks no longer carries the kind I want.  I'll have to search around I guess.

Worked some on some paintings.  And that seems to be it for today.  On to tomorrow.

November 5, 2010 (Fri)

Did some work on Paint Blog 2, Panel 5.  Coming along nicely, though still needs work.

Work was slow.  Water in the ear and a general blah feeling are slowing me down.  Watched the first half hour of "After Hours" and I found it off-putting.  Probably see the rest tomorrow and try to get it in the mail.

Slept decently, though the night was very, very cold.  Only woke up twice, which must be a record of some (recent) kind.

Went in and did my 25 laps, bringing this week's total (including Halloween) to 250.  Yeah, too much.

Watched the rest of "After Hours."  Still not impressed, alas.  No other creative work done, other than some cartooning.

Tomorrow is the day of rest.  See you then.

November 4, 2010 (Thurs)

I was only up for a short while after posting yesterday, and thus only did a little bit of painting.   I thought I would start putting the day of the week in these entries, largely so I can know myself what day it is.

Up around 9 AM to answer the phone.  The doctor needs more blood, so in I will go.  Got my swimming done around 12:30 and now we'll just wait a bit before visiting the MD.

Blood test done, more swimming around 10:30 PM, and that's pretty much that.  General lack of energy and inspiration, though I think it's mostly the former keeping the latter in check.

See you tomorrow!

November 3, 2010

I don't feel terribly well today.  I don't really feel like swimming, for one thing, though I suppose I probably will anyway.  Blah and more blah.

Minutes after typing that, I went swimming.  Go figure.  I really do enjoy it, for the most part.

Update:  well, it's nearly 10:30 PM and I'm wondering if I should go swimming again.  I still feel kind of blech, but I also feel a kind of compulsion.

Did a number of additions to the old Paint Blog 2 canvases (panels 2 and 3 to be precise).  These are works that haven't been touched for a couple of years (at least).  And I think I've done some good work, they kind of "woke up" a bit.   Took some more Lynda courses as well; deeper into Illustrator they get a bit more obscure.

Update 2: I did go swimming again.  I think I will probably do some more painting as well, but I thought I'd post this before midnight clicks over.

On to tomorrow.

November 2, 2010

Election Day.  Got up and swam fairly early, completing 25 laps shortly after 9AM.  Forgot my earplugs, which meant I staggered around a bit in the locker room, but no pain.

Went to the doctor to see about my concerns.  Surprisingly reasonable rate for a non-insured person, I thought, and I will now await two or three days to hear the decision, though I bet I already know the answer.  Didn't sound hopeless, though.

Tired for most of the rest of the day.

Update: went for another swim.  I find Election Night rather depressing.  No creative work done this day.

Tomorrow, then.

November 1, 2010

Up late, in to swim shortly after 11 AM.  When I was done, a couple of folks had had their keys stolen from the locker room.  I immediately went and had a duplicate key made, since as they pointed out, with remote keys it would be easy to find which car you'd just stolen.

Made an appointment to see the doctor.  Non-insured rates surprisingly reasonable.

Worked a bit on Apples while watching "Two Thousand Maniacs."  So far, HGL's photography is pretty poorly framed, though colorful, and the accents don't sound terribly authentic.

And worked a bit on the Statue painting.  Spilled the whole palette on the carpet; oh great.  Cleaned up somewhat, but it did put a damper on the evening.

And that's a wrap.  See you tomorrow.

October 31, 2010

Came back around 2:30 PM.  Did fifty laps in the swimming pool, and started a new painting.  I had a great idea (maybe) that would be similar to the "Apple" paintings I've done.  Other than that, not much.  See you in the new month.

October 30, 2010

Out of town with limited internet access.  No creative work done.

October 29, 2010

Out of town with limited internet access.  No creative work.

October 28, 2010

It's after 2 AM, but it's a new day anyway.  I did some painting on the new Garden painting, which is to replace the one destroyed by the elements.   I didn't really want to work on it, but I didn't want to start a new painting and most of the others are still too wet to touch.

But I discovered something - even without inspiration, if the image has a plan, you can work on it to shore up that plan (adding highlights and shadows, for example) without any inspiration from the work itself.  And the work will still be better for it.

Update:  got the swimming in around 8:30 AM.  Shot some video of the Parkway using the little clamp thing I bought; it fell off after two and a half minutes.  It's very jumpy, and I ran it through Sony's "Image stabilization" fix which made it a bit less jumpy.  I wanted even less jumpy, and tried it a second time, and it ended up with a zoomed in image.  Hm, have to figure out how this works.

Update 2: tried some more stabilization settings, with results not as good.  What the heck.  I did some vocal recording for the Doppelganger soundtrack.  My mini-pre seems to be dead.  Damn.

Update 3: well, that's about it.  

October 27, 2010

Swimming close to noon.  I returned one of the things I bought yesterday and feel much better now.  Spending is one of those things I need to control.  Applied for a job.

Not feeling a lot creatively right now, which is close to 7:30 PM.  No telling what may happen later, though.

Update: well, I'm working on some paintings while Bill Moyers talks to Joseph Campbell.  I'm not really feeling it, but the work is coming along nicely so no complaints.

See you tomorrow.

October 26, 2010

Up nice and early, around 7:30AM.  Surprising since I slept so badly, and even more surprising that I simply didn't pop back into bed.  Bleak, wet weather, a lot like yesterday with less rain.

Update: nothing really accomplished so far, as of 7:30 PM.  Oh wait, I did a bang up job of cleaning the apartment.  That should count for something.

Update 2: worked a bit on Apples while watching the Blu-Ray version of "Alien" on a small tube TV.  I was morose and grim and unhappy almost all of the day, so I'm counting that bit of painting more than I ought.

Anyway, tomorrow will be here soon.

October 25, 2010

A lost day.  Went swimming around 11:30 AM, then did pretty much nothing the rest of the day.  I don't feel terribly distraught over this, as I know creativity cannot be forced.  Still, I'd like to make the days count.

October 24, 2010

Slow day.  Started my weekly swimming routine, then pretty much did nothing.  I don't know if that will change in the next few hours.  We'll see, I guess.

Update:  no, nothing today.  Worked on a silly CGI drawing, then went swimming again.  Still, it's nice to have a day off, especially when other days have been so profitable (in other than a monetary sense).

See you tomorrow!

October 23, 2010

Up late last night, up late this morning.  Like most Saturdays I suspect this one will have little in the way of accomplishment.  So I'm not too worried.

Update: experimented with the little video helicopter.  Boy does that guy love to go crashing into the ground!  I think I will put a hold on any future helicopters until I can find out why this one is so lovin' the crashin'.  Video quality is certainly nothing of note.  If I could get it to fly for, oh heck, a few feet, long enough to get usable footage...

Update 2: did some painting while watching "Mr. Show" from Netflix. 

And that was that.  See you tomorrow.

October 22, 2010

Woke up when 7 turned to 8, then rested a bit and went in to swim around 9:30.   Went to vote, which always makes me feel good, even when my team doesn't win.  It is, really, an extraordinary thing for us to be able to do.

Looked again at Robe, and think some of the foliage is a bit off.  Oh well, it can be fixed, can't it?  I'm really feeling a kind of itch to start a new work.  But I should get some of the old ones finished first, shouldn't I?

Update:  too much caffeine makes me want to explode.  I should cut down on that.  I did some work on Apples, trying to correct a large imbalance in the composition.  I also shot some dun buggy video, which looks great!  I'm going to try and integrate it into the Leela video.

Update 2:  did a lot of painting on Robe and Apples.  I added another apple to the right side to try and balance, and made the damned thing too big.  Detailed a bunch of the other guys and so far am pleased with it.  I will have to take care of big brother, though.

Not a bad day, all things considered.  I will have to watch the caffeine tomorrow.

See you then. 

October 21, 2010

Up around 7AM, back to sleep, up around 9AM and went swimming, figuring I had until 10:30 to finish.  Nope--class at 10!  Oh no!  What will I do?  Well, I did my laps with about ten minutes to spare.  I guess I'm getting less terrible at it.

Finished "Zodiac" and got it into the mail.  Very good film, though very reminiscent of "Seven."

Did some painting around 5:30, just a bit of touch-up on Robe.  In contrast to the last few days, I seem to have a lot of energy now, so much so that I'm not sure what to do with it.  I suspect I'll go swimming again in an hour or so.  But it's odd feeling so directionless, yet with so much pent-up energy.  Like I could explode if I felt like it.

Update:  went swimming again at around 9:30 and burned off some energy.  Did some more work on Robe, touching up the background.  Good all around, I think.

On to tomorrow.  

October 20, 2010

Well, as I was afraid would happen, I woke up around 11:30 last night and couldn't get back to sleep.  So I painted and drew cartoons until 2:30 or so, then went back to bed.  As an odd bonus, tonight was the first time I had a long block of sleep (til 7AM ish) which was uninterrupted.

Nothing else done today.  Another round of swimming around 11PM.  Watched "Zodiac" which (so far) is pretty good.

Perhaps some painting in the wee hours.  But unless that happens, see you tomorrow. 

October 19, 2010

Up before 8, which is good, and into the pool before 9.  It's always, always nice to get the swimming out of the way early, though it's equally nice to do it at the end of the day.  Earlier just means I can tick it off the list and go on to other things without it being a worry.

Did more painting last night on Anna.  Still needs more but it's nice to put some work into something after a long lay-off, and find ideas generating.

Update: bought an RC dune buggy and tested the camcorder in it...looks kind of cool!  I would like to get a similar helicopter, but the one place that sells them, the guy is always busy or on the phone.  Or not there.  Not interested in sales I'm gathering.

I still feel this pervasive lack of energy.

Update: It's a bit after 10PM and I originally thought I might do some painting, but the plain fact of the matter is I am too exhausted.  I can barely hold my head up.  So I'm calling it an early night.  See you tomorrow.

October 18, 2010

Up around the cusp between 7 and 8AM.  Drove in to swim a bit before nine, and was somewhat taken aback by the vast amount of cars in the parking lot.  Still, inside, no one was using the pool, so I got that done and done.

Still pretty tired.  I may rest for a bit before tackling the rest of the day.

Update: well, it's 20 after 8 in the evening.  I did some painting, finally giving the applebirds their wings.  Unusually for such a large change, it didn't immediately strike me as a disaster, though I don't like leaving it inconclusive like this.  Still, I don't hate it, and can see where it will go.

Not sure I'll do anything else, but we'll see.  I feel truly depressed for some reason.  Nothing I can point to, the mood just seemed to descend.

Update again: I did quite a bit of painting, on Applebirds, Anna and Leng.  So not bad for a day's work.

October 17, 2010

Well, this will be another unremarkable day.  Did my swimming noonish, and have been feeling tired ever since.  The new shampoo and conditioner seem to do well with my hair.

Watched another chapter at Lynda.com, and may watch more, but like yesterday I'm thinking this isn't going to be a model of production for me as this 24 hour stretch comes to a close.

We'll see, but as it's nearly 8:30 PM now, and I'm still feeling tired, I'm going to stay with my prediction.

Update:  well, I sliced Doppelganger into fourteen chapters, prior to adding a soundtrack.  So that was something.  I might do a little painting but very, very little.  Too tired.

On to tomorrow.

Update 2: I did some painting, worked a bit on Apples.  Very nice touches, although not really major work.

October 16, 2010

Saturday seems to be the day of no work.  I guess that doesn't bother me too much, especially after yesterdays painting-o-rama.  I have some vague idea about possibly cutting Doppelganger into scenes, but I'm not sure if I'll actually do that tonight.

Update:  sometimes, it's okay to take a bit of a rest.

October 15, 2010

Cold night last night, toss in an uncooperative a cat used to a state of comfortableness, and I slept a bit late.  Don't feel too bad this morning, but not really inspired to do anything much.  I'll probably go swimming shortly.

Well, swimming went well...I really have had a good long streak of getting there when the pool was under-utilized; waiting times have been few.  (Watch how the luck changes there.)  I worked on Paint Blog II and The Robe, a bit.  BP2 is really shaping up nicely.  The Robe is entering that difficult phase when it looks like it might go all wrong.  Sometimes, paintings go completely wrong at this point and are never recovered; other times, the wrong is tilted right and they go on to make something of themselves.

Rather exhausted at the moment (close to 3 PM).

Update: worked on more paintings (four in total) using a grand total of seventeen brushes!  Yay!  The paintings were The Robe, Applebirds, The Sphere and Paint Blog 2.   I like the work done on all of them, Robe no longer looks to be going wrong.  A decent day.  

See you tomorrow.

October 14, 2010

Some good painting done in the wee hours.  Unlike last night, I knew enough to stop myself when things started going off.

Talked to Ma about the check from Big Bro S.  Some very sane advice, which I intend to follow.

Couple of cartoons.  Thinking about Maya, versus what I have with Flash.  Let's see what Lynda has to say about that.

Later: tried a different kind of alcohol last night, and paid for it this morning.  Sick out of pretty much every orifice.  Won't get fooled again, though I wish I could stretch that to won't get drunk again.

Did fifty laps in the pool, and then ran some errands.  I wish I could find a pair of swimming goggles that work for me, but the clerks in Dicks were too busy talking about how awesome their weekend was going to be to offer any help.

Still don't feel all that hot.  I think today is pretty much done anyway.  See you tomorrow.

October 13, 2010

Well, I was up late last night painting, which is good, though I'm not all that certain of the results.  Still, it can always be painted over.  Got into the pool around 12:30 today.

Nothing really in the offing, though I'd like to see if I could get a female to narrate the Leela outside video.  That might be cute.

Later: set up the second DVD player in the painting room, that might help keep me there.  Went swimming again at 10:30.  So I've done 175 laps altogether.

I may do some more painting later, but that's for later.  Until tomorrow, then.

October 12, 2010

Well, I didn't go swimming again, but I ended up playing with Sony Vegas.  And I found the image stabilizer, which, for lack of a better vocabulary, is just incredible.  I put in some shaky Leela clips and stabilized them, and damn if they don't look like I had a Steadicam.  I can see myself using this feature a lot in the future.

Let's hope the rest of the day has some equally nice revelations.

Ah morning.  A bit late, actually--9:20--to get to the pool before classes start.  Bianca H at the forum did a lovely altering of Leela's photo, and I started a project to turn it into a video.  Pretty frustrating trying to get audio off a DVD (in this case, The War of the Worlds), I finally plugged the DVD player's headphone jack into the Boss BR-6.  Then tried to cut just the audio I wanted, without dialog, etc...another bit of frustration.

Not too encouraged by the day's direction, I went swimming around 12:30.  It felt great.  So great, in fact, that I ended up doing 50 laps in one session.  Something I generally don't do. 

Came back and finished up the video, feeling better about it.  Still not happy with Sony's way of dealing with animated still images, which seems to be, "We don't care.  Slide them around like puzzle blocks until you get what you like.  We'll be over here reading magazines."  Created the "heat ray" effects, put it all together, posted it to YouTube.  Not too bad an experience for something done in a single day.

Watched another Netflix DVD, "Mr Show Season 3" which was consistently funny.  Later, I was moved to paint and created a great way out for the fifth panel of Paint Blog 2.  Will let that set, and see if I can fix Night Surgeon.

And then there's tomorrow.

October 11, 2010

Another slow, sluggish day.  Swam around 1PM.  Maybe I'll go back later.  (I did last night, as I thought I would.)

Created a brief rhythm track to donate to the forums.  Dunno what else I'll do, as it's past 7PM now and I still feel slow and sluggish.

Ah well, at least I don't have blood gushing out of my nose.

Update: moved some furniture around, which seemed like a mistake at the time, but I think it will help with various projects.

Didn't do anything else today.  Thought about a double-pool day, but figured I'd use it as an excuse to buy beer.  I'm kind of tired, but I probably won't go to sleep soon.  The cat has taken over the bed. 

On to tomorrow.

October 10, 2010

Slow day, with me being pretty tired during most of it.  Swam around noon, and went for a bit of a drive, but otherwise I've done pretty much nothing all day.  I guess it doesn't bother me too much, as yesterday didn't really take off until later that night.  Will the same thing happen now?  I guess we'll see.

Update, as of 11:30 PM.  No work today.  I have the urge to go swimming again, but I'm not sure I will.

Tomorrow calls.

October 9, 2010

Well, I assembled ROGER's limbs today, and he no longer fits into his clothing.  It stays on him, but it's tight and not easy to control.  I'm thinking if I compress his limbs a bit (or a lot) he'll retain the staying power but move more easily in his coat, and the length might not be an issue.

Worked a bit more on Paint Blog II.  I like where it's going.  Apples still too wet to do much with.  I may tackle Telephone Girl some more in a bit.

Recorded with my new pedal board.  I never realized how easy and flexible that kind of chain could be.  I must have recorded around seven minutes of heavily-treated bass guitar.

No swimming today, as it's Saturday.

We'll see if the day has any more in store for it.  It's around 10PM so I doubt it, but who knows?

Update: I indeed did more work on Telephone Girl, and I am very pleased with it.  Might actually be done, but I'll wait a few days.

Exhausted right now.  See you tomorrow.

October 8, 2010

Up and swimming around 9AM, then ran some errands.  Got a new battery for the car's stereo remote, and bought some stuff to work with ROGER.  He's been neglected of late and I thought it was time to get some more done on his behalf.

Opened up DreamWeaver and reset my local site to the "Probation" drive, as the "Orbison" one is slow to respond and loses connectivity rather more than I like.

Did some painting, a little on Apples (not dry enough yet, though) and some more substantial work on Paint Blog 2.  The last panel has always bothered me and I thought, now's as good a time as any to see if I can make it un-bother me.

Probably not much else tonight.  We'll see, though.

Update:  no, nothing else, but a decent day.  On to tomorrow.

October 7, 2010

In the pool before 9AM.  Then, inexplicably, back in the pool around 1PM.  So that's good.

Did a little more painting.  Apples is in that crucial stage when it could totally go off and be ruined.  For some reason I'm not worried, though I'm impatient to paint on it even though I know I should wait.

Got a call from a possible job source.  We'll see how that goes, I guess.  Some more Lynda classes, which are always quite good.

And some more painting elsewhere, and we're done for the day, aside from watching "Out of Sight" (good film).  See you tomorrow.

October 6, 2010

Went in to swim around 11 AM.   Not feeling too swift, but managed the laps.

Canceled my XBox Live account, as I no longer have an XBox.  Found my ABTech stuff, but it appears that I don't have an ABTech email account, so it looks like I can't get the free Maya software.  Maybe I'll take the Lynda courses anyway.

The plumber showed up and fixed my sink.  Now, I'm going to go out and get my car inspected.

Fun day, eh?

Update: forgot one of my rules (Never eat at Burger King) and ate at Burger King.  Hence I feel terribly sick.  I doubt I'll do anything else today but will keep this open anyway.

Later update: recovered enough to want to do more, and did a little--very little--painting.  The green swirl painting I'd started had what looked like death in a coat, so I emphasized this.

I don't think anything else is going to happen tonight.  See you tomorrow.

Secret Update:  Well, I ended up doing a lot more painting.  Worked on Telephone Girl and the Green Apples paintings.  I'm more pleased with the day.

October 5, 2010

Early start to a crowded pool around 9AM.  Got gas, milk and a couple of Egg McMuffins (which still taste great).

Did a short remix of another video for YouTube.

Set up camera for "self-portraits" but the phone rang.  Will see if I can finish the project.

Update:  I shot some photos, not really happy with them overall, but they're not bad.  Maybe I'll try at some future time.  They were damned hard to set up, with all the costuming and so forth.

I think I will go swimming again.  It's about 11:15 PM, may not be crowded.  But no more entries for today.

Tomorrow, then.

October 4, 2010

Up at 9AM, swam, and ran some errands.  Found out Leela's adoption date:  November 14, 2010!

Later: slow day.  Watched some films, rested.  Tomorrow awaits.

October 3, 2010

Post-midnight last night, I created a new Audacity project using a piano WAV from the Zoom archives.  I tried some of the bass nubbins with it, but they seemed to clash a bit more than I really wanted.   I'm sure I'll do more as the day wears on.

Got my swimming in around 11 AM.

Later:  started another painting, largely green.  Used a huge amount of paint, and had to use an old toothbrush to get the paint off my hands.

Nothing else accomplished today.  Watched the Netflix DVD I got yesterday (MST3K's "Beast of Yucca Flats").  The problem with DVDs is that I should watch them and send them back, but they take up both audio and video senses so it's hard to do much with this segment of the day.

To tomorrow.

October 2, 2010

Beautiful weather, so I went for a brief drive.  That didn't do anything for me, so I came home and read outside for a while.  I'd really like more art history books for the Kindle.

I started a new painting, mostly by taking four colors and smearing them downward on a canvas.  Interesting results that will, or course, require detailing when this first step dries.

I also noticed that the work I'd done on Night Surgeon is lit from the wrong side!  A redo is in order.

But not tonight.  On to tomorrow!

October 1, 2010

Well, I was up late last night "indulging" so I punished myself by getting to the pool before 10AM.  Tried the new shampoo I'd bought and it seems to leave my hair less zombified.

I bought a pedal-board today, and signed up for a year of Lynda.Com.  No other works to speak of, though I've opened up Sick Jazz in an Audacity window.  I think there's definite potential with that work, need something noirish animated to go with it.

Update:  did a second version, which I like too.  (The first one has some odd glitches.)  I imported all the music from my old Zoom MRS-4 and there's some nice stuff there.  

Went in to swim after 11.  Pool surprising crowded. 

On to tomorrow. 

September 30, 2010

Another slow day.  Got my swimming done and nothing else, as of 7:45 PM.

Update:  did some guitar recording, and some painting.   On to tomorrow, then.

September 29, 2010

Up around 7AM for some reason.  Too early for swimming or other errands, I wonder if I'll do anything or just go back to bed.

Update: well, I didn't go back to bed (then).  Did my swimming and ran a number of errands.  THEN went back to bed.

This is going to be another day of zero accomplishments.  I feel somewhat restless about this, but I'm unsure what to do to remedy the situation.

Update the second: well, I did some painting.  I think Helldwarf looks really good right now.  But now, sigh, I have three hours of Battlestar: Galactica to get through so I can return the disk to Netflix.  I hope I don't dislike this as much as I did the pilot.

Later later.  Well, I'm not liking it much more.  The style just irritates me, with all the newsreel camera-look, the clinking music.  Not so much a step up or down from the cheesy 70's original, as a step sideways.

Also, I did some more painting.  Just a bit on Night Surgeon.  Will have to be worked with a bit, but a nice start, I think. 

September 28, 2010

Not feeling too well today.  Not sure if that will affect productivity or not, though I've been non-productive before without that excuse.  Have to wait and see I guess.

Well, it's after 10 PM now.  I know I'm not doing anything today.  See you tomorrow. 

September 27, 2010

Well, it's 2:30 today and I haven't done anything (except swim).  I think I'm just so damned happy to have the Cat Song done and done.  Sent out some notices to folks and the reaction is very positive.

Projects I might work on:  another RVH song, "Distracted by Apes"; soundtrack for the Doppelganger film; another Headache; or some kind of new animation, but totally animated rather than just overlapping existing footage.

The last one seems a bit difficult, the third seems too easy, the other two, hmm.

Update: well, I digitized Doppelganger.  And I've moved some of the other videos to the network to free up some space on the local drive.  Nothing much other than that, so far.

Update 2: nothing else done today.  On to tomorrow.

September 26, 2010

Well, I finished the Cat Song video and uploaded it.  I did my twenty-five laps. 

That's good enough for an average Sunday in my book, so I'm knocking it in early tonight.  See you tomorrow!

September 25, 2010

Well, it's officially the new day.  I did a couple of nice Audacity songs--very Residents-like, but I'll only be able to use one as they both use the same bass and trumpet pattern as a rhythm.  Still, nice.  (I suspect that I'll go with the second, as the sax from the first is part of the Nice Jazz song and I don't want to spread stuff too thin.)

Daytime:  well, a few vocal takes of Cat Song, most of which are pretty bad.  I decided not to use the backing track as a guide, and that was a mistake--everything got a lot faster than it should have.  One good thing:  I think the higher the voice, the less effective it is.  If I can get it down low, it won't interfere with the guitars and it might work a lot better.  Will try a few more takes--with the backing track, thanks--a little later on.

Well, it's a little later, and I think we've finally managed to get a workable vocal.  Huzzah and hooray!   I'm not sure what else I want to accomplish (that I can).  Perhaps some trumpet work later on.  I feel it's been a productive day, though.

Did some trumpet tracks, dry, with heavy reverb, and with the Harmonizer pedal.  Not sure if any of it can be used anywhere, but it's nice to just play without worrying where something might fit (or not fit).

I doubt I'll do anything else creative the rest of the day, but I'll keep my options open.

And, voila, nothing else done today.  

September 24, 2010

So, here I am at Tom's house.  The drive down pretty much exhausted me, so yes, that's the excuse I'm going to use for accomplishing nothing today.

Which is fine.  I'm beginning to realize that I cannot be creative every single day, let alone for hours at a time.  Sometimes the ideas have to be allowed to settle in and stay in one place before I can work with them and produce anything worthwhile.

Oh, I suggested a couple of changes to the lyrics, one of which was accepted, the other was not.  I think it's overall stronger.  So I guess there is that.

Later: played around with Audacity a bit.  Wireless here is a bit iffy.  On to tomorrow.

September 23, 2010

Another lazy day.  Swam, slept, packed up some stuff for tomorrow.  Had a big lunch, which seems to've been a mistake--feeling bloated, sluggish and not a little bit ill.

Bought some Velcro for ROGER, but it didn't work.  I need something with bigger hooks. 

Nothing else done today.  Tomorrow should be a different story, tell you about it then. 

September 22, 2010

Got my swimming out of the way around 8:30.  It's tough on my eyes, whatever it is that they use in the pool to keep it clean.

Set up my recording equipment to try vocals for the Cat Song.  Let's see how that goes.

Later: well, I got what I think is a serviceable set of voices for the Cat Song, and it sounds pretty decent.  I'd still like to try recording in a more isolated setting--I think the lead voice needs to be up and on top, and that's going to take volume.  Wrote to Friend Tom asking if I could use his house.  Nice thing about that is I can get RVH to do it.

Later still: Friend Tom said come on down, so I will this weekend.  I listened to the Cat Song again, and am less happy with it.  The voices mush right over the instruments.  Better to get high and loud.

Bored and restless, so I'm going to go swimming again.  Until tomorrow, then.

September 21, 2010

Slept late, getting up around 11.  Finished watching "The Lost Skeleton Returns Again," which was quiet funny though not as fresh as the first film.

Swam around 1PM.  Since I was out of town on Sunday, I did make-up laps yesterday and today to bring me back to my proper total for the week.  Hard on the eyes, but otherwise it felt good.

Later:  Well, a decidedly uncreative day.  I did perhaps 30 minutes of painting, but I'm finding it difficult to force myself to do creative work.  Perhaps I'll be better recovered tomorrow.

Until then... 

September 20, 2010

A long drive home is something that typically exhausts my creative energies, and this one seems no exception.  So I'm not expecting to get anything of significance done today.  As always I'll keep my options open, but there's not likely to be much more after this paragraph.

Later: and I was right, too.

September 19, 2010

Shot some footage of the ocean and the shore, some of which looks useful.  I'm betting that's everything for today I am going to do, so until tomorrow...

September 18, 2010

Well, given my limited resources....

Actually, I did some work with trumpet samples, trying to see if I could make a brass line.  Interesting results.

That's about it, other than cleaning and rearranging furniture.

September 17, 2010

I'm out of town this weekend, so no swimming or, for that matter, much of anything I'm going to guess.  I'll still do entries but they'll probably be somewhat, er, lacking.

Later: as I thought, nothing much.  Though I'm thinking of playing with the sax and trumpet tracks using Audacity.  Need to find some headphones, first...

September 16, 2010

Up today at 8AM, though sleeping was difficult.  I'll be going off to swim in a few minutes.

I really have nothing planned for today.  Finishing up Realm kinda took the wind out of my sails.  Perhaps I should do the Kitty Cat video just using the instrumental track, which I keep saying I'll do.

Later:  well, I am working on the cat video.  I really like the music so that's a definite positive.  I'm curious as to why I seem to have so few pictures of Leela.  Seems like I should have a couple of hundred but there's only a handful.

I'm also concerned that some files--a brief video I wanted to include--seem to exist nowhere except in the backup of my website.  It's good that I have them, but they should be here, on some disk or another.  Troubling.  I wonder what might be lost for good?

Later still: I finished the cat video, or at least the karaoke version.  It looks, sounds and plays great.  I am hopeful that at some time I can add voices to it, but for now it feels good to look at something that's more than just an idea floating in my head.

Swam again around 10PM, mostly because I was feeling restless.  Also, I wanted beer. 

Nothing else accomplished today, but in a sense I figure this is quite a bit.  The only nagging thought is that with Realm and Kitty Cat, I've kind of passed a threshold in terms of using some storytelling techniques.  I wonder if doing things like the Headaches are kind of a step backwards.

On the other hand, they're fun to do.  And I even have some ideas for more.  The thing is, if doing them is spinning my wheels, at least that makes a sound I can listen to.

Tomorrow, on the road again.  Probably nothing notable will be accomplished this weekend, at least in terms of artwork.

Til then.

September 15, 2010

Haven't gone off to bed yet, but it's the 15th, so here we begin.

I discovered that I'd left nearly six seconds out of the Realm video.  Argh, to coin a phrase.  I hunted down the errant clip and inserted it.  Fortunately, I say fortunately, it was in an area that didn't yet have a soundtrack--in other words, an area where I was going to have to add and snip second to get everything to fit again.

Added some more soundtrack to other sections, including the ending since I knew that would be fairly simple.  No effects, just noise to massage the images toward the end.  What I have so far looks pretty good, and it's also stopped depressing me.

Up around 8AM, sat around until the job interview.  Realizing I had some time, and didn't have any water noises, I went and did some recordings of the shower.

The interview was pretty much what I thought it would be (lots of people at a presentation being told about sales jobs) but they seem sure of themselves so who knows.  Decent money, so if I could totally change my personality who can say.  Stopped back at the pool and did my laps.

Worked on water noises for Realm.

Later: finished and uploaded the Realm video.  That was pretty much it.  As noted, when sound effects have to be closely coordinated to events in the video, this can take a lot of time.  It's nice to see that I can do it, rather than just say "The heck with it" and do something half-way.

And then to tomorrow.

September 14, 2010

Up and swimming shortly before 9AM.  I'm feeling a lot less glum today, so I'm not sure what caused yesterday's mood.  Of course said mood may return without warning, so I'll keep watch.

Later: spent some time working on the Realm soundtrack.  It really is very depressing noise, but it's coming together well.

Later: well, it took around an hour to do a bit under a minute of soundtrack.  The reason being, this one uses sound effects for some events that have to be placed carefully.  I'm thinking  the rest of it won't quite be as detail-oriented, but it's interesting to work in that direction.

Later still: well, I watched some more Lynda.Com training videos.  They're pretty good stuff, though I'm not sure I'm getting out of them what I could.  I'll probably work some more on the Realm soundtrack later, but I want to go ahead and close the day now.

On to tomorrow.

September 13, 2010

Up a bit late (9:30 ish) and off to swim.   Back home, where I had a message about a possible job offer on the machine.  Called back and scheduled for this Wednesday at 10.  I have a feeling this might be a feeder from CareerBuilder.Com, but we'll see.

Worked a bit on the sphere painting.  No idea where it's going but the ideas do keep happening, so that's a good thing.

Last night I completed the "realm" animation and I looked at it again this morning.  Looks good, now all that's needed is (you guessed it) the soundtrack.  I have some definite ideas for it, but we'll have to see if I have the talent to do it right.

More later, perhaps.

It's 7:30 and I've done nothing else today.  I'm kind of hoping that won't be the case for the rest of the day.

Still later.  Recorded some soundtrack stuff, and it sounds good, but it's also kind of feeding the depressed mood I find myself in.

Later still, I did some more painting.  Worked a bit on Hell Dwarf and think I've made some progress.

Tomorrow awaits. 

September 12, 2010

Well, it's been one month since I started this.  Has it been worth it?  Well, I have managed to move forward on several things that, no doubt, would have been left in the middle or abandoned entirely otherwise.  Whether they were worth doing, I leave to future history - if any.

Difficult sleep last night, but up and into the pool around 10:30.  Nice swim, though my eyes are smarting.

After "The Drowned Giant," I have some more ideas for video-paintings, or whatever I should call these things.  One idea that appeals to me is doing a long video of the "Realm" images.  That might be nice.  Perhaps even one of those "tapestry" things.

As for an actual count of work done today, as of 2:45 PM, there's been none.  But perhaps more is to come.

Later:  worked on the painting, and started doing some work on "Realm."  Watched some more Lynda.com training videos.  They really are good.

Feel vaguely dissatisfied today, probably because I am ultimately heading nowhere.   Tomorrow then.

September 11, 2010

Got back from the concert around 1AM, and consequently slept until nearly 1PM.

I have discovered that my cat will willingly stay indoors now provided she gets her favorite place.  Her favorite place: my work chair.  Hm, not sure how that will work out.  For right now, I am giving in.

Here's how pathetic I am: I found a stool to put in front of the work chair.  Wow, that is just sad.

Anyway, I recorded a few guitar drones and added them to some existing echoing effects guitar tracks to create a soundtrack for The Drowned Giant.  It works pretty well, but then I'm keeping the original soundtrack - wave noises and the occasional gleeful child - because it adds a certain organic nature to the whole thing.  I think I'm ready to post it.

Haven't seen anything else on Lynda.Com and am feeling guilty about that (almost typed "guitar about that).  I think I'll watch one tonight.

We shall see if there's anything else to report later tonight.  I think I'm mostly done with creative work for today, but, as noted, we shall see.

Later: nothing else done today.  On to tomorrow!

September 10, 2010

Well, I over indulged last night, and woke up late.  Still managed to do some video work that I think could be usable.  (As usual, just needs a soundtrack.)

Off to see Jon Anderson in concert.  I imagine I will be back well past midnight, and since I'm not (can't) taking anything with me, that's all the creative work for today.  On to tomorrow.

September 9, 2010

Up fairly early, though sleep was difficult.  Off to swim around 8:30.

Last night I uploaded Headache No 03 to YouTube.  Surprising how little time that whole project took, from assembling and formatting the images to creating and attaching the soundtrack.  I guess when an idea wants to come out, it will come out.

Bad news from the bank (not catastrophic but extremely irksome) has left me in a foul mood, and I feel I won't be doing much creative work the rest of the day.  I'm tempted to post this now, but I'll wait a while longer to see how things develop.

Later.  Well, I am slightly less ticked off.  I did some cat animation for the choruses.  I also swam another twenty-five laps, which leaves tomorrow open.  Did some grocery shopping and bought beer, which is one reason I wanted to keep tomorrow open.

Tomorrow evening I'll be out of town so probably not much accomplished then.

Later still:  well, I got some good video work done.  Nothing concrete, nothing that might lead to a new project, but still good to feel the glow of accomplishment.

September 8, 2010

Up around 8AM and did my swimming around 9.  Weather is a bit variable today, sun and rain alternating.

Redid a page of my main website using Dreamweaver for the first time.  Pretty nice result, though it's obvious that I should look more into some of the special features available.  But it's good to know it can be done easily without a lot of pain.

Later:  Assembled the soundtrack to Headache No 3, then sync'd it to the video.  Looks pretty good.  Actually, it looks and sounds demonic and kind of scares me, but I don't think there's any danger...

Some reading, some trying to persuade the cat to come indoors, not a lot else...but a decent enough day.

Til tomorrow then....

September 7, 2010

No alcohol last night, and while sleep was poor, I was nonetheless able to get swimming shortly after 9AM.

Vague sense of unease last night and today, as if I'm forgetting something important.  Not sure what it might be.  It turns out my unemployment has run out, so I have to see what I can do about that.

Took one of the Lynda courses on Dreamweaver.  Great course, lots of information.

Later:  did some more recording.  Two tracks of a ride cymbal, and another track of double bass.  As it happens, my viola bow plays the double bass better than the double bass bow.   I will probably cut and paste these tracks to make the soundtrack, but I played it back as a unit and damn if it doesn't sound pretty good.  The handheld mic even threw in a bit of weird electronic noise.  Very nice.

Did a small bit of painting.  Seemed to work well enough, though this work is going slowly and it's hard to make it reveal its own ideas.

Loaded all the audio tracks into Audacity.  Sounds nice and occasionally matched up with the action on screen, though I think this one is going to need some matching to image.

Kind of tired tonight, don't know why.

Still later, took some very buzzy bass bits and made them into odd noises (mostly through reversing them).

September 6, 2010

Well, once again I was up late, this time trimming video clips.  Still, to bed in not too terrible an hour.  Up shortly after 8AM and went off to the gym, managing to get my swimming done a bit after nine.

I've spent quite a while today organizing video clips for what seems to be shaping up as "Headache No. 03," the latest in a series of YouTube offerings.  It's a lot of fun.  I shot new footage of this piece of Styrofoam I kept around, precisely for this sort of thing.  Also some footage of my paintings to go in behind this odd "tree trunk" that I should clip out of the video noise properly.

The only thing I don't have for this is a soundtrack, but I'm sure that will not present a problem.   Oh, I also did a tiny bit of painting, correcting some of the lighting on the spheres.

More later, perhaps.

Later, read for an hour or so out in the nice weather.  Not quite as perfect as Saturday and Sunday but still pretty nice.

After that, I did more video editing, overlaying, assembling.  I think I have something quite nice (as far as the Headache series can be considered "nice").  Put it all together (save for the soundtrack) with Pinnacle, which does have its uses.

For some reason, I thought a much quieter, calmer soundtrack was needed--something along the lines of Brian Eno's "Lost Day."  So I moved (with much grumbling over ubiquity of cables) the reverb unit and recorder over to the double bass.  Well, the reverb wouldn't work--it may need something with power behind it--but I was able to get some noise recorded just directly into the Boss.  And the noise?  Yikes, "A Visit To Squeakville" would not be out of place as a title.  I think I can cut a bit here and there and, perhaps, assemble something.

A decent day's work.

Yet later, I added a couple more clips to the Headache project and I think it works beginning to end.  So that part is finished, at least.  Funny how quickly I can do these when the muse just happens to hit.

I have a strange desire for alcohol which I am hoping I can resist.

Til tomorrow, then.

September 5, 2010

Another slow day, with lovely weather.  I was up really late last night, watching the old Battlestar Gallactica show and creating a silly magazine cover.  Nonetheless, I got the swimming in around noon.  Nice.

Sat outside and read again, enjoying the weather.  We'll have to see if anything gets done today.  Not a huge loss if it doesn't.

Later: Well, I worked a bit on painting (not a lot, but looks good).  I also reacquainted  myself with the Solvieg video editor.  I tried some last night and got strange results.  Practicing with it just now I suddenly remembered what I'd forgotten. 

So, very little done today, but still a satisfactory 24 hours. 

September 4, 2010

Hard time falling asleep, not helped by an indulgence in beer.  At any rate, I redid the "angry tail" sequence for the cat video, so that the frame doesn't jump all over the place.  Looks pretty good so far.

Ridley Scott's "Alien" remains in my top ten.

Ah, the wonders of alcohol.  Anyway, today's been a slow day.  Beautiful weather, so I went for a brief drive.  Then, when I came home, I sat outside and read for a couple of hours.  Created some footage of "video glitches" and started thinking about using it in one of the "Headache" entries.

Not much else done, but a lazy Saturday isn't going to break the bank.

September 3, 2010

Didn't sleep too well last night, but up and swimming around 9AM anyway.  Yay!

While swimming (which is were I get a lot of really good ideas) I got a nice idea about the Cat Song "chorus" section.  Maybe yelling isn't needed after all.  I'll have to try later.

Finished the web comic art and submitted it.  I think it will go over well, but who knows?  At least I don't have it hanging around my neck (in a totally voluntary way, of course) any more.

Finished the review of Nathan Shumate's book that I said I'd do weeks ago.  So that's off the table.  Cool!  Also did a quick "business card" of silliness for someone else.

Otherwise a slow, unremarkable day.  For the record, I didn't try the new chorus idea.  I did do some work on the "sphere" painting, which I think works okay with it.

Lethargy has set in, around 10PM so I'm thinking that's it for today. 

September 2, 2010

Well, I was up late watching science documentaries, so I'm fairly tired this morning.  At 10:30, I've missed the early window for swimming (Thursday is a class day), so we'll try 1 PM for that.

No real ideas for anything, except some possible work on the new painting.

More later.

Well, I drew a lot for the web comic thing, which isn't even mine.  Got in the swimming around 1, as planned.  Did some work on the painting but I wasn't really feeling it much.   I think I like it, but I'm not totally sure.  It sort of looks like it might shape up into something, but it's a bit too early to tell. 

September 1, 2010

Well, it's a new month and new beginning, and all that, right?  Sure!  So, I woke up at 9 and did my swimming, then came back home and fell asleep.

A canvas I started is dry enough to do some more work on, so I may do that.  I'm still rather psyched from finishing up the Cat Song.  Even my friend Tom's canceling of the upcoming weekend work doesn't bother me.

More to come, perhaps.

Later: did some painting on the canvas previously mentioned.  Assembled the Cat Song into into its complete form (i.e., the ending is now in place).  Of course, then I looked at the lyrics.

Oops.  Looks like I'll need some more verses.  Like, at least three.  Ow.  Well, I cobbled together some things and will forward them on to RV, who is much better with words.  In  fact, he'll probably start yelling when he sees what I have, but then, he's the guy with the words, right?  Give me better ones.

Did some drawing for a possible entry in someone else's web comic while watching shows about the universe. 

All in all, not a bad day.  Could have done more, I suppose, but I'm happy with what I got. 

August 31, 2020

Woke up this morning feeling pretty sick.  Tongue felt like I'd tried to drink scalding hot chocolate (I hadn't).

Feel a general lethargy.  Doubtful anything will get accomplished today.

Update:  did my twenty-five around 1 PM.

Update:  Well, I actually put in a lot of work on the Cat Song.  In fact, apart from the vocal, I assembled it.  Well, there are still details to do.  The verse section runs a bit long, and the chorus section is kind of muddy.  I may have to re-do some settings on it and re-export it.  But overall I'm quite pleased with it.  It's not what I imagined it would be--it's better.

And again.  Cut the verse section into the proper length, re-did the chorus section and inserted where appropriate.  Re-placed the drum bits, and it's basically now in finished form, apart from lack of vocal.  Because of the speed, I'm going to have to bellow it, so I'm hoping I can record that at Tom's house.

Later still:  did the final tweaking on the Cat Song, and I believe the music is done.  Hooray, etc.

August 30, 2010

Woke up late, around 9:30 AM.  I was hoping to get to the pool around 9.  No matter, the pool was clear and I did my twenty-five.  Then went immediately to the laundry and spent an hour and a half getting that chore out of the way.

I've had no creative impulses today.  I finally glued the broken bits back on my Kindle.   That's been about it, really, without any promise of more to come.  It may be that breaking through on the Cat project has kind of left a triumphal air that's blanketing other options. 

We'll see how that goes for the rest of the day.   Probably doesn't help that I just got a double-feature disk from NetFlix, as television requires many of the other senses I would use in creative work.

Perhaps more to come.

August 29, 2010

Well, I put the drums I'd worked on last night with the guitars from a few days ago, and damn it it doesn't work just beautifully.  Or at least, my tiredness of this project is making me think so.  But, in fact, I don't think so.  Maybe some distance is required, but I believe I actually have something today.  Thank goodness for Audacity.  Nothing else I've tried has worked as well.  Takes a bit of getting used to, and still has some primitive bits to it, but damn, results matter.

No swimming yet, I figure I'll try that around 7 PM.

Update:  Swimming got well in, 25 laps around 6:45 or so.  Seems to be a good time on Sunday.

When I came back, I did a complete little section of song from beginning to end--starting with drums, adding bass guitar and rhythm guitar.  Assembled in Audacity and you know, it's pretty good.  It's only about 14 seconds or so, but long enough (short songs are best).  But what makes it most encouraging is that conception to "final" product was only about an hour or so.  Either I'm getting pretty good or my idea of quality is dropping enough to compensate.  

Two bits of music hardly seem like the sort of thing to constitute a day's activity, but I feel today has been a good one.

August 28, 2010

Tried several software drum machines, and wasn't really happy with any of them.  There was one I remember using years ago which would be perfect, alas I cannot remember the name.

Spent some time instead trying to build drum tracks in Audacity.  The more I use the program, the more I like it, but there are certain things I wish it would do that it does not.

Later: built up a pretty decent drum track.  Not perfect, but pretty close to what I want.  Now to see if I can meld some guitars to it.

This has certainly been an instructive project.  Especially considering it was kind of a throwaway.  

August 27, 2010

Up around 8 AM, yes (successfully), then set out to do twenty-five laps.

Thought about the Cat Project.  I think that what I've got son far is good, though I'm concerned that it's a bit too fast.  I'll listen to it a bit later and see if I can't do one of two things:  either adapt what I have, or re-record at a somewhat more singable speed.

Later: well, I did some re-recording, though I'm not sure how good (or usable, I should say) it is.  However, I'm encouraged by the fact that doing re-recording doesn't automatically mean, "Abandon ship, nothing is possible."  I feel as though I can be dissatisfied with elements to the point where I can do them better, if that makes any sense.  In other words, acknowledged defeat can lead to a better campaign, rather than the idea of inevitable defeat.

Later still:  I thought that perhaps I was making the wrong approach to this song.  What if, instead of going from the top down, perhaps I should start with the drums and build a solid foundation, and then go upward?  With that in mind, I thought perhaps drum machine software might be better than me trying to pound out something from the PSA-5 via keyboard.

I also started a new painting.  We'll see how that goes.

All in all not a bad day.  I'd like to have done more, but I'll take what I can get.

August 26, 2010

Got off to a fairly early start back home.  Stopped at the pool and did twenty-five laps.  Was heartened to see that the parking lot work had been completed while I was gone; I dreaded another notice, "Due to bad weather, the parking lot project has been put off to next week..."

Too exhausted to do much of anything.  Spent a great deal of time sleeping.  This may end up being little more than a recovery day.

Update: pretty much. 

August 25, 2010

Post-filed again, out of town.  More discussion, not much else.

August 24, 2010

Post-filed.  Did more swimming around 5:30 AM, then got on the road.  Had a good chat with my friend Tom about story-telling theories and so on. 

August 23, 2010

Good start to the day.  I was actually up fairly late last night, and as I was uploading to YouTube I did some painting on the "rib cage" painting.  I think it's shaping up nicely, and has gone from something of a time-filler to something that might be worthwhile.

Got my swimming out of the way around 9AM, which is good to free up the rest of the day.  We'll see how that shapes up.

Update:  Well, this places a damper over the next couple of days.  Apparently, the apartment complex where I live has decided that they are going to resurface the parking lot.  Tomorrow.  At 7:00 AM.  I was informed of this just now.  Today.  At 5:00 PM.  Cars are to be moved or towed.

Wonderful.

I'm slightly pissed, but more depressed.  Why can't people tell things like this, say, a week in advance?  Is that too much to ask?  Apparently.  I'm appealing to friends at the moment for a place to stay, but it does put everything in a damper.

Did some project work, recording drums, but probably nothing usable.  Bit too angry to work.  Later, after midnight, swam another twenty-five laps.

August 22, 2010

A good start.  Slept poorly, kind of awoke close to 8AM, then decided near 9, "I'll go swimming and get that out of the way."  And I did.

Later in the afternoon, I recorded some guitar noise.  Basic setup, going from Hello Kitty guitar through Thrash Metal pedal and into the Nanoverb, before ending up in the BR-600.  Nice sheets of sound, sharp with infinite sustain.  Unrecognizable as guitar for the most part.  One thing I have got to remember is to check the BR when I do a new song: by default it wants to throw its own effects in there, and while I appreciate the gesture, I'd rather it didn't.  Perhaps there's a default I can set.

Anyway, I'm not sure what I did will be useful at all in any projects now or down the road, but it was nice being able to create without the pressure of some existing project forcing its NEED on me.  (Yes, I'm talking about you, Cat Song.)

Speaking of Cat Song, finally got the words written down so I won't have to rely on memory.  RV supplied some good lines, though they tended to...wander off point, which I guess is what he does anyway.  I forgot to ask him if he'll do the vocal when the music is polished off.  Since that time is likely far off, there's no urgency to the task.

Update: perhaps spoke a bit soonish.  Decided a tad reluctantly, to work on the Cat Song and, heaven forfend!  I actually got a good paste up of the verse-workings.  It sounds actually pretty good, to my admittedly wanting-to-be-done-with-this ears.  Still have to put together the chorus, but heck, I'll take this.

The bad news:  ACID doesn't want to import the resultant WAV properly.  It insists on...well, I can't describe it.  It sort of robotizes it, gets the choppy rhythm all smoothed out.  Hence, unusable.  Maybe I'll have to do the whole thing in Audacity.  (Shudder.)  (Perhaps that's unfair.  Audacity is free, after all, and has been an enormous help.  I take it back, Audacity.)

Spent the rest of the evening digitizing old VHS tapes.

August 21, 2010

I don't really feeling like doing much of anything today, let alone anything creative.  It's a semi-overcast day that feels, to use the scientific term, blaugh.

A non-swimming day for which I feel almost guilty.  I'm sure tomorrow, a swimming day, I'll be back to resisting it.

Update:  other than reading, I accomplished nothing today.  A day off, to go with the day off from swimming.

August 20, 2010

Late night last night, and trouble sleeping, but here it is nearly 9:30 AM and I don't feel like going back to bed, so let's see if we're seeing a pattern form.  A pattern of one!

Well, I listened to the recordings I made earlier in the week, and I'm slightly encouraged by them.  They're not bad at all, I'm just skittish about saying "Maybe I can use that."  Yeah, well, maybe I can use my cat's litter-box for something, I'm just not sure I would want to or that it would be worth it.

I should note that I took another crack at the "Cats and Dogs" essay that I've been thinking about forever yesterday, and forgot to note it in yesterday's entry.

Tonight, dissatisfied with the recordings I've accumulated, I did some more.  I am rapidly coming to realize that it's going to be more difficult to assemble the individual pieces than to simply play them live.  The problem:  I am a terrible musician.  So more guitarings, more trying to beef up those guitarings.

The biggest problem with the song is that it has reached that stage as a "Project" that all projects inevitably come to:  the realization that what I've been carrying around in my head is going to fight me all the way to completion.  This usually occurs in the first third or so of the work, and it's the most frustrating aspect because nothing seems to be accumulating into being.  It's at this stage that a number of project are banished to be "thought about" later, and some are simply abandoned.  The urge to abandon is very powerful, and has to be fought while morale is at its lowest.

Oh, and twenty-five laps in the pool.