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.