January 31, 2017 (Tues)

Drinking - no.  So for January's final tally, we have "Yes" at 15, and "No" at 16.  Congrats "No" for a very narrow win.  Let's see if we can do better next month.

Paid work - some, not too bad.

Creative work - not much.  A bit of character design, as well as the realization that this project may be beyond me.  I guess we'll see.

See you tomorrow.

January 30, 2017 (Mon)

Drinking - no.  So we're all tied at 15-15.

Paid work - a little.  Not too worried, I still have some projects for the week.

Creative work - nothing.  Sorry, just wasn't feeling it.  Still have some planning to do before I can really start the story.

See you tomorrow.

January 29, 2017 (Sun)

Drinking - no.  This makes 15 (yes) to 14 (no). 

Paid work - a couple of hours, more than I expected for a Sunday.

Creative work - not much.  I learned (kind of) how to animate gradients.  Like most things Flash, it seems easy but isn't really.

Supposed to snow tonight.  I hope it doesn't, but whatever will be, will be.

See you tomorrow.

January 28, 2017 (Sat)

Drinking - undetermined.  As of right now, no, but that might change.

Paid work - not really.  Dealing with Windows 8 and its security crap, probably won't get paid for the hours put in.

Creative work - nothing.  Took some photographs.

See you tomorrow.  If I do go out and get alcohol, I'll amend this.

UPDATE:  No alcohol tonight.  It was close, though.

January 27, 2016 (Fri)

Drinking - yes.  Irritation and frustration, what can I say.  15 to 12.

Paid work - a bit, nothing to shout about. 

Creative work - again, a bit.  I think I've finished the "Introduction" bit, visually.  Now I have to learn to create the characters I want to show, and think a bit more about how the basic story needs to progress.

See you tomorrow.

January 26, 2017 (Thurs)

Drinking - no.  I believe the score stands at 14 (yes) and 12 (no).  Yikes.

Paid work - some.  A decent amount. 

Creative work - again, a decent amount.  Not nearly enough as yesterday, but some nice details.  One thing I've learned about creative work is that you can't push it, or you'll get crap you'll just have to undo.

See you tomorrow.

January 25, 2017 (Wed)

Drinking - no.  Don't ask me why, I only work here.  As I've said, it comes and goes. 

Paid work - a nice chunk.  Not too bad.

Creative work - a lot of work on the new Flash project.  It's shaping up nicely.  I hope my ambition doesn't outstrip my ability, but I guess we'll cross that when we come to it.

See you tomorrow.

January 24, 2017 (Tues)

Drinking - yes.  That's going to be my epitaph, isn't it?  If I accomplished anything, it could be a biography title, but that seems too far off.

Paid work - a decent chunk.

Creative work - nothing really.  Like yesterday, some PhotoShop silliness.  Still liking the new project, but nothing other than conceptualizing going on.

See you tomorrow.

January 23, 2017 (Mon)

Drinking - yes.  I don't even.

Paid work - a very nice chunk late in the day.

Creative work - nothing really.  Some PhotoShop silliness.

See you tomorrow.

January 22, 2017 (Sun)

Drinking - yes.  Not too worried but, you know.  Could be worrying.

Paid work - like yesterday, a nice chunk.  Exhausting, but always good to have a decent paycheck in the pipe.

Creative work - nothing important, really.  Some PhotoShop silliness.  Some conceptualizing about the new project, some pulling back a bit while looking forward.

Things...are better, really, than they ought to be.  And worse than they are.  But we live from day to day.

Speaking of such, see you tomorrow.  One of those days.

January 21, 2017 (Sat)

Drinking - yes.  Before you start, let me just say that Saturday had very powerful voices.  I'm not too worried about this lapse...as I've said before (to myself), I wouldn't mind a binge day or even two.  It's when it bleeds into the regular week that I lose all hope.

Paid work - an enormous amount.  Lots of very tiring physical stuff...possibly a reason why my willpower was so weak--it was really, really tired.  And yes, I know it's not an excuse.

Creative work - well, I wasn't expecting to do anything, but I did manage to make a pretty satisfying first chapter in the new Flash project.  Yes, the new Flash project will be done in chapters, because the story is too complex for two stages, like the last one.  That honestly worries me a bit, not because I don't think I can do it, but because it will put enormous pressure on the next project.  And I'm not sure I am creative enough to keep pushing limits.

Anyway, see you tomorrow.

January 20, 2017 (Fri)

Drinking - no...but it was a struggle.  Everything told me "It's Friday, why not?" and I had to keep saying "Because I have to be at work tomorrow morning at 8AM" but the voices just kept on.  Nonetheless, I managed to hold them off.

Paid work - nice little chunk, and as mentioned, more tomorrow.

Creative work - again, a nice chunk.  The scenario is being plotted out, and I'm doing some preliminary art for it.  This time around I'm using PhotoShop, since it's much more versatile, and I'm slowly learning how to make PS stuff work within Flash the way I want it to.

See you tomorrow.

January 19, 2017 (Thurs)

Drinking - no.  Like I said yesterday, good.

Paid work - quite a bit, really.  Again, good.

Creative work - only a little, but I'm starting some conceptualizing.  I think I have a story, or a plot.  I want to learn if I can do it.  I learned a couple of new things tonight, so I have hope.

See you tomorrow.

January 18, 2017 (Wed)

Drinking - no.  Good.

Paid work - only a little.  But there's more for tomorrow.

Creative work - nothing really.  Tossing around a few ideas, some of them seem workable.  We'll see if anything develops.

See you tomorrow.

January 17, 2017 (Tues)

Drinking - no.  I have no idea why, except perhaps that I need to get the "yes/no" ratio a bit more in balance.  I'm grateful anyway.

Paid work - some, about what I had planned.  Could've used more, but I do have stuff for tomorrow.

Creative work - none.  After uploading the latest project yesterday, I tried to come up with another idea and so far have not.  I'm not worried about it, though.  I deserve a day or two off.

See you tomorrow.

January 16, 2017 (Mon)

Drinking - yes.  Not a great start to the year. 

Paid work - some, not bad.  Not great, but not bad.

Creative work - finished the Flash project, now called "From Verbatim," and uploaded to YouTube.  The finishing bits were a couple of brief audio effects added in, and I am very happy with the result.  I feel that I got what I wanted to, and that I didn't have to sacrifice my goals because of difficulty or impossibility.  And it was done in such a short time--a little over a week.  Outstanding (for me).

No idea of what to start on next, but I'm feeling as if ideas will come without too much trouble.

See you tomorrow.

January 15, 2017 (Sun)

Drinking - yes.

Paid work.  Not really, it's Sunday.  The only thing done was a little bit, and that was irksome.

Creative work - a lot.  I'm pretty sure I've finished the latest Flash project.  I want to wait a day or so to be sure, but I like it, I've put everything into it that I wanted to, and it looks good.  I'll look at it again over the next day or so before I post it.

See you tomorrow.

January 14, 2017 (Sat)

Drinking - yes.  Ceasing to care, really.

Paid work - no.  The usual weekend maintenance.

Creative work - a bunch.  Started out being tired of the Project, but made some nice strides in animation.   Flash gets more complex the more you try to do things with it.  But the paths are there, it's just not as easy as you'd hope it might be.  But there are always ways.

See you tomorrow.

January 13, 2017 (Fri)

Drinking - yes.  Oh good Lord, why is everything the way it is.  I console those who seek to destroy me.  It may not be their aim, but it is what they do.  And I am alone.

Paid work - only a little.  A couple of things didn't pan out.  A little worrying, but so far only a little.

Creative work - quite a lot.  Getting very close to completing the latest Flash project--only a week later!  That strikes me as something rather extraordinary.

See you tomorrow, my only friend.

January 12, 2017 (Thurs)

Drinking - yes.  Just to clarify, last night was NO.  What the hell, people.  What the hell.

Paid work - only a little.  Enough to make it a successful day, I guess.

Creative work - quite a lot on the project.  More than I thought I would do.  So that's at least one good thing about today.  It's been little more than a week since I started this thing, and said thing is close to being done.  Much better than the four or five months I spent on the last one.  Progress, maybe.  Fast is good in the world of today.

See you tomorrow.

January 11, 2017 (Wed)

Drinking - not so far, but then I'm posting this from a client's building. 

Paid work - see above.  Mostly frustrating because this stuff is taking so long.

Creative work -a bunch, really.  Started working on what I'm calling the "scribble monster" and I like it so far.  That's another frustrating thing, I'd rather be working on that than watching files copy.

See you tomorrow.

January 10, 2017 (Tues)

Drinking - yes.  Long frustrating day.

Paid work - quite a nice chunk.

Creative work - nothing but speculation.  I think I have an idea for a character.  Just need to find out how to realize him.  Otherwise, too busy.

See you tomorrow.

January 9, 2017 (Mon)

Drinking - yes.  The F word, many times.

Paid work - not really.  Still iced in from Friday's snow.  This is worrisome.

Creative work - actually rather a lot.  Some PhotoShop stuff, which was fun.  (Surprisingly,  PhotoShop is fun!  I'd never have said that two years ago.)  And a lot of Flash work on the weekend project.  I animated all of the "one side" bits, and with a bit of tweaking, liked what I had done.  Still nothing for the "other side" bits, but I think I know what I want to do.  And I might actually have a bit of a story.  We'll find out soon enough.

See you tomorrow.  And thanks for visiting.

January 8, 2017 (Sun)

Drinking - yes.  Damn.

Paid work - none really.  Some drive copying, which would be included in yesterday's time allotment.

Creative work - quite a lot done on this new project.  I'm learning a lot about how to do things in Flash, and why you shouldn't do them that way.  Or at least, why it's a good idea to wait.  A bunch of retracing my steps as I try different things, but so far, so good.  At the moment, I have all the scenes plotted out to the end, I just have to find a monster and/or main character.  There are ideas, and I like some of them, but so far I haven't touched them.  Maybe tomorrow.

See you then.

January 7, 2017 (Sat)

Drinking - yes.  Damn.  Have to fight harder.

Paid work - it's Saturday, so no, nothing much.  Usual weekly maintenance. 

Creative work - well...a bunch of stuff on this current Flash thing.  Learned a bit, too, though the knowledge obtained seems a bit fraught with traps.  We'll see, I guess.

See you tomorrow.

January 6, 2017 (Fri)

Drinking - yes.  As I've said, I don't know where it comes from, and where it goes, but it's back.  At least for tonight.  It just...showed up, saying, "It's Friday."  I'm hoping tomorrow I can put up a bit of a fight.  I have done so in the past.  We'll see, I guess.

Paid work - none.  Some snow on the ground, which makes me rather paranoid (I don't need large bills for car damage).  Since there were no emergencies, I stayed in.

Creative work - and here is where it gets odd.  As I said, The Urge came back, and I thought the best way to combat it was to try anything creative to divert my mind.  So I fired up Flash, stuck in an old bit of recording, and...got a bit inspired.  Didn't help with The Urge, as noted above.  But I've actually completed some interesting work.  The old recording is over two minutes, so I'll have to work to make the visuals interesting for that length, but...there's something where there wasn't anything before. 

As I said, it's kind of odd.  The Urge, saving me by damning me, somehow.  Or the opposite of that.

Anyway, see you tomorrow.

January 5, 2017 (Thurs)

Drinking - no.  I'm pleased by this trend but I'm not counting any chickens yet.  The urge comes out of nowhere, the same way it vanishes.

Paid work - a decent chunk.

Creative work - none, really.  When I thought about the first idea I had this month, I went looking for images among my photos and couldn't find anything.  I realized that I have to organize these things better, so I'm going to spend some time doing that.  Still thinking about both ideas.

See you tomorrow.

January 4, 2017 (Wed)

Drinking - no.  I'm liking this trend, I must tell you.  Wonder how long it will last.

Paid work - quite a lot, rather exhausting, too.

Creative work - none, but I did get an interesting idea last night while trying to fall asleep.  All I have is an idea, but it sounds like it might be something interesting.  I guess we'll see.

See you tomorrow.

January 3, 2017 (Tues)

Drinking - no.  Three days in a row.  Today was garbage day as well, and I even went to the store after putting the trash out.  Hmm.

Paid work - a bunch, and some tomorrow as well.

Creative work - a bit.  I have a notion for something to do in Flash, and I actually opened Flash and created a stage.  With the last project, I guess I didn't have the backgrounds aligned exactly on Flash's white "stage" and I could see a sliver of white just on the edge of the resultant YouTube video.  It doesn't bother me, but I figured it's something I should learn.  One more thing, I guess.

See you tomorrow.

January 2, 2017 (Mon)

Drinking - no. 

Paid work - only a little.  A lot of places are closed because New Year's Day was on a Sunday.  Fine with me.

Creative work - only a bit of scratching in PhotoShop, not very motivated.  Still no ideas for a new project, at least, no ideas that last for more than a few moments.

Ah well.  Starting to get worried, but I'm sure something will turn up.

See you tomorrow.

January 1, 2017 (Sun)

Drinking - no.  Good way to start the year.

Paid work - a bit.  More maintenance stuff.

Creative work - no.  Trying to come up with a plan, but nothing is catching fire.

See you tomorrow.