Monday, September 22, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
NIGHTMARE.
Wow, been way too long since I've done this. Needless to say, I've been preoccupied.
I built a new computer. Got all sorts of awesome hardware for it. Quad core processor, 8 gigs of RAM, 2 500 gig hard drives, Blu Ray, and a fan that's about as big as your head. So I put it together on Sunday, September 7th, thinking everything was going OK and that I'd be playing Spore till morning. What proceeded to happen over the week that followed was some of the most mind blowing insanity I've ever experienced. You can list all things that could potentially go wrong when putting together a new computer, pretty much all of them happened. As soon as one problem was addressed and fixed, something else cropped up and ruined everything all over again.
I'll spare everyone the complete details, as it would just take too long to write everything. For the benefit of others who may wind up in my position, I'll say this. The main culprit for my misery? WINDOWS VISTA. I can't tell you how many Blue Screens of Death I've seen from this thing. Why did that happen so much? Who knows, but the only way I got it to install and run at all was first by pulling one of the hard drives (Vista couldn't tell the difference between two blank drives, so it wouldn't even install unless there was only one), then stripping the entire system to the bare minimum of hardware (one stick of ram), and then running Windows Update about a hundred times until there was nothing new left to install. Only then could I put all the hardware back in place and run it without any problems. This whole time I spent starring periodically at my Spore Galactic Edition box and lamenting "I just want to play this game! Why won't anything work?"
And it did finally work fine, for a couple days. While playing Spore, it crashed. I reset the computer and when Vista restated it acted like this was the first time I had ever run it! Apparently my profile got corrupted. The only say to fix it was to delete it. In the process, I lost my Spore saved game. Damn.
Working with this new computer has been torture. I can not believe that so many things could go wrong, on after the other, in such a short period of time. I was an absolute nightmare. And so, that's what I'm naming the machine as its local network identity: Nightmare.
The whole intention for this computer is to use it as my high powered art machine, and for video. I haven't even attempted to do very much with it yet except play Spore. I'm worried about really getting into something, like a new piece of art, and feeling comfortable with it, only to then have some other problem appear and slap me in the face. Eventually I'll have to more forward and try to work with this beast, but the threat will likely always be there. I'll have to keep on my toes, because maybe the nightmare will never really end.
Sayonara.
I built a new computer. Got all sorts of awesome hardware for it. Quad core processor, 8 gigs of RAM, 2 500 gig hard drives, Blu Ray, and a fan that's about as big as your head. So I put it together on Sunday, September 7th, thinking everything was going OK and that I'd be playing Spore till morning. What proceeded to happen over the week that followed was some of the most mind blowing insanity I've ever experienced. You can list all things that could potentially go wrong when putting together a new computer, pretty much all of them happened. As soon as one problem was addressed and fixed, something else cropped up and ruined everything all over again.
I'll spare everyone the complete details, as it would just take too long to write everything. For the benefit of others who may wind up in my position, I'll say this. The main culprit for my misery? WINDOWS VISTA. I can't tell you how many Blue Screens of Death I've seen from this thing. Why did that happen so much? Who knows, but the only way I got it to install and run at all was first by pulling one of the hard drives (Vista couldn't tell the difference between two blank drives, so it wouldn't even install unless there was only one), then stripping the entire system to the bare minimum of hardware (one stick of ram), and then running Windows Update about a hundred times until there was nothing new left to install. Only then could I put all the hardware back in place and run it without any problems. This whole time I spent starring periodically at my Spore Galactic Edition box and lamenting "I just want to play this game! Why won't anything work?"
And it did finally work fine, for a couple days. While playing Spore, it crashed. I reset the computer and when Vista restated it acted like this was the first time I had ever run it! Apparently my profile got corrupted. The only say to fix it was to delete it. In the process, I lost my Spore saved game. Damn.
Working with this new computer has been torture. I can not believe that so many things could go wrong, on after the other, in such a short period of time. I was an absolute nightmare. And so, that's what I'm naming the machine as its local network identity: Nightmare.
The whole intention for this computer is to use it as my high powered art machine, and for video. I haven't even attempted to do very much with it yet except play Spore. I'm worried about really getting into something, like a new piece of art, and feeling comfortable with it, only to then have some other problem appear and slap me in the face. Eventually I'll have to more forward and try to work with this beast, but the threat will likely always be there. I'll have to keep on my toes, because maybe the nightmare will never really end.
Sayonara.
Friday, September 05, 2008
JEEEOOOORRRREAAAARB!
Nothing beats a classic. Classic in Internet years, anyway.
It's sort of a good news - bad news kind of situation right now. Though I guess the bad news isn't really all that bad in the grand scheme of things.
Good News: I got a new job. Which is, ironically, same as the old job. I am going back to teach art at the private school I worked at in the 2006-2007 school year. I haven't done any teaching at all over the past year, as the general Comic Book Masters stuff pretty much slowed right down. I was told certain things last year that made it seem like I was going to be teaching there again, but the school has some sort of ideals about bringing in new teachers to keep things fresh, so the opportunity was never extended to me. But on the Friday of Fan Expo, right as I was stressing out about getting a job (and perhaps being forced to settle for a non-art related one), returned home to find in my e-mail an invitation to teach after school again, and I accepted right away. It's been awhile, but I want to do this. I have two classes, one with grades 2-4 and another with grades 5-8, and I'll be teaching some kind of Cartooning/Animation/Comic Books/Anime hybrid program with a lot of variety.
Bad News: My first class of the week is on Wednesday, and the other is on Friday. Being in an elementary school at the end of the school day on a Friday is NOT my idea of a good time. Quite the contrary, actually. During my first tenure as an after school art teacher, I distinctly remember thinking that, while there were challenges dealing with students sometimes, overall I liked the job, but I wouldn't want to do it on a Friday. Hell, if I was a kid, I wouldn't want to stay after school on Friday! And yet, here I am, and I'm going to do this almost every Friday for the next several months. I don't know what the classes are going to end up looking like yet, but I'm sure there will be some stressful times ahead. But, whatever. I need the money.
Good News: It looks like I got another job! And get this, it's teaching art to kids! How about that? This one I actually worked myself to get. I saw a job posting on the net that was looking for a kids art instructor, and since I've got 10 years of experience doing exactly that, I sent them a resume and it looks as if they like me well enough to give me a shot. I met the fellow in charge yesterday to get the scoop, and the kids are going to be pretty young, but the company is serious about this and they want some good results. Gulp! Well, it's more important to them that they have fun and want to keep learning, and kids tend to like me so I think it'll be ok. I start this Sunday, and there is potential for more days after that. So now I have 2 jobs, and I'm still poking my head around to see what else is out there that I can do.
Bad News: So, like I said, the job starts Sunday. You know what Sunday is, right? Sunday is SPORE!!!!!! Aww man, I gotta start a new job the very day that the computer game I've been waiting 3 years to play finally comes out! I will have lost a good 3-4 precious gaming hours by having to work this day, and that's not including the time it takes to tear off the plastic wrap, remove the DVD from the package, and install the game. I was so ready for this game. I've been wanting it so badly ever since I saw that first video of Will Wright showing the game off in 2005. I downloaded the trial version of the Creature Creator in June as soon as it was made available and since then, even with the limited number of parts, I've created 101 creatures. I feel like I've just gotten started, and I so badly want to play with the finished game. I was totally planning on getting my pre-ordered copy as soon as the store opened, but now I'll be teaching the wee little ones at that time instead, so it will have to wait until later that afternoon. Massive Frustration!!!!! Oh well, I guess it's ok. I'm hopefully on my way to getting a long awaited new super-powered computer some time this coming week, so if that happens I'll wait and install it then.
So there you have it. That's (almost) everything that's going on right now. More later? We'll see.
Best compliment ever - Today, regarding getting a standard background check required to work at a school: "You're different, but you're not psychotic". I had no comment so I just smiled and chuckled to myself.
Sayonara.
It's sort of a good news - bad news kind of situation right now. Though I guess the bad news isn't really all that bad in the grand scheme of things.
Good News: I got a new job. Which is, ironically, same as the old job. I am going back to teach art at the private school I worked at in the 2006-2007 school year. I haven't done any teaching at all over the past year, as the general Comic Book Masters stuff pretty much slowed right down. I was told certain things last year that made it seem like I was going to be teaching there again, but the school has some sort of ideals about bringing in new teachers to keep things fresh, so the opportunity was never extended to me. But on the Friday of Fan Expo, right as I was stressing out about getting a job (and perhaps being forced to settle for a non-art related one), returned home to find in my e-mail an invitation to teach after school again, and I accepted right away. It's been awhile, but I want to do this. I have two classes, one with grades 2-4 and another with grades 5-8, and I'll be teaching some kind of Cartooning/Animation/Comic Books/Anime hybrid program with a lot of variety.
Bad News: My first class of the week is on Wednesday, and the other is on Friday. Being in an elementary school at the end of the school day on a Friday is NOT my idea of a good time. Quite the contrary, actually. During my first tenure as an after school art teacher, I distinctly remember thinking that, while there were challenges dealing with students sometimes, overall I liked the job, but I wouldn't want to do it on a Friday. Hell, if I was a kid, I wouldn't want to stay after school on Friday! And yet, here I am, and I'm going to do this almost every Friday for the next several months. I don't know what the classes are going to end up looking like yet, but I'm sure there will be some stressful times ahead. But, whatever. I need the money.
Good News: It looks like I got another job! And get this, it's teaching art to kids! How about that? This one I actually worked myself to get. I saw a job posting on the net that was looking for a kids art instructor, and since I've got 10 years of experience doing exactly that, I sent them a resume and it looks as if they like me well enough to give me a shot. I met the fellow in charge yesterday to get the scoop, and the kids are going to be pretty young, but the company is serious about this and they want some good results. Gulp! Well, it's more important to them that they have fun and want to keep learning, and kids tend to like me so I think it'll be ok. I start this Sunday, and there is potential for more days after that. So now I have 2 jobs, and I'm still poking my head around to see what else is out there that I can do.
Bad News: So, like I said, the job starts Sunday. You know what Sunday is, right? Sunday is SPORE!!!!!! Aww man, I gotta start a new job the very day that the computer game I've been waiting 3 years to play finally comes out! I will have lost a good 3-4 precious gaming hours by having to work this day, and that's not including the time it takes to tear off the plastic wrap, remove the DVD from the package, and install the game. I was so ready for this game. I've been wanting it so badly ever since I saw that first video of Will Wright showing the game off in 2005. I downloaded the trial version of the Creature Creator in June as soon as it was made available and since then, even with the limited number of parts, I've created 101 creatures. I feel like I've just gotten started, and I so badly want to play with the finished game. I was totally planning on getting my pre-ordered copy as soon as the store opened, but now I'll be teaching the wee little ones at that time instead, so it will have to wait until later that afternoon. Massive Frustration!!!!! Oh well, I guess it's ok. I'm hopefully on my way to getting a long awaited new super-powered computer some time this coming week, so if that happens I'll wait and install it then.
So there you have it. That's (almost) everything that's going on right now. More later? We'll see.
Best compliment ever - Today, regarding getting a standard background check required to work at a school: "You're different, but you're not psychotic". I had no comment so I just smiled and chuckled to myself.
Sayonara.
Monday, September 01, 2008
The Story of how I met Kevin Eastman.
So at Fan Expo last weekend I finally met one of my heroes, Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman. He was totally cool to all the fans and it was the thrill of a lifetime to finally meet someone who was so influential to me. I had met Peter Laird at Fan Expo a few years earlier and I bought a reprint of the very first TMNT issue to have him sign. I brought it along with me this year to have Kevin sign, so now I have issue one signed by both guys. It's like the 7th reprinting 20 years removed from its first release, and Kevin's no longer involved with TMNT and the two of them don't really talk anymore, but still, it's a special thing.
Towards the end of the last day of the show, I happened to be wandering around and I saw Kevin at his Heavy Metal booth sitting by himself and drawing a picture of Wolverine. He recognized me from the day before and so we started to talk for a bit while no one else was around. It was a cool moment. I really should have gotten a picture but I didn't even really think about that. But he said he had an awesome time it seems like he'll probably be there again next year. Anyway, he promptly discarded the drawing of Wolverine because he didn't like it and only drew it to prove that he couldn't after drawing "36 thousand Ninja Turtles" that weekend.
I also bought his TMNT "Artobiography", which is the closest thing to a full TMNT art book there is right now, and the Body Count Graphic Novel. Both worthwhile purchases.
Probably the coolest thing was that, while getting is autograph, the guy ahead of me in line turns out to be one of my top students who I haven't seen in years. Neither of us recognized each other at first because both of us have much longer hair now, but we got to talking and we had a little reunion right there in front of Kevin Eastman. That's a cool moment that can only happen at a convention.
Sayonara.
Towards the end of the last day of the show, I happened to be wandering around and I saw Kevin at his Heavy Metal booth sitting by himself and drawing a picture of Wolverine. He recognized me from the day before and so we started to talk for a bit while no one else was around. It was a cool moment. I really should have gotten a picture but I didn't even really think about that. But he said he had an awesome time it seems like he'll probably be there again next year. Anyway, he promptly discarded the drawing of Wolverine because he didn't like it and only drew it to prove that he couldn't after drawing "36 thousand Ninja Turtles" that weekend.
I also bought his TMNT "Artobiography", which is the closest thing to a full TMNT art book there is right now, and the Body Count Graphic Novel. Both worthwhile purchases.
Probably the coolest thing was that, while getting is autograph, the guy ahead of me in line turns out to be one of my top students who I haven't seen in years. Neither of us recognized each other at first because both of us have much longer hair now, but we got to talking and we had a little reunion right there in front of Kevin Eastman. That's a cool moment that can only happen at a convention.
Sayonara.
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