2 Mar 07
I’ve been working with an artist, Dave White, on a new design for the Giant Armors from my novel. Here’s what they look like: It’s been wonderful. He’s a complete professional. Which mainly means: He gives me exact dates of when he expects to finish things. He get his work done by the appointed date, […]
1 Mar 07
And yesterday was another long day. Work plus my web design class. I definitely look forward to being used to that class, so I don’t have to put as much energy into it. Not that I want to skate through it. The first pass through a class is always the most difficult, especially when you […]
27 Feb 07
It’s been a long day. A good day, but a long and tiresome day. And really, should I be anything other than accepting of that?
26 Feb 07
I just finished watching the Astro Boy (2003) series. That ending was one of the best endings of anything I’ve ever seen. It resolves every single plot thread in ways that blow my mind. The ending is frankly better than anything Tezuka ever wrote, and I consider Tezuka a legendary writer. I can’t even think […]
25 Feb 07
We’ve had another winter storm. Several inches of snow, plus a bit of rain. I attempted a daring escape to my parents’ house in the thick of the storm, but there was too much snow, and people drove even more bizarrely than usual. When I attempted to change lanes, I lost control of my truck, […]
24 Feb 07
Last night, I attended a pinewood derby at my AWANA club. The cars were simple, the kids were hyped up, the track electronics often failed, and we were usually behind in racking up cars. But the kids jumped up and down, the parents hollered, much pizza was consumed, and everyone had a great time. It […]
23 Feb 07
At work yesterday, we accepted a rush job: grab an entire site, burn it to a CD, and make sure it works off the CD. The disc would be picked up by a courier at 1:00 pm today (Friday). It was assigned to one of the developers here, but I pledged to be sure it […]
21 Feb 07
I’ve finally watched Battle Angel Alita, an early-90’s anime OVA that was a classic for its time. It’s less impressive today, though it’s still a dark piece with some beautiful action sequences and a solid philosophical core. It’s set in the future, in a literal junk city. The populace lives off the junk discarded from […]
20 Feb 07
Spent some time recently watching two favorite cartoons of my childhood, Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs. Animaniacs is usually considered the better show; it could be far more funny. But I was struck by how consistently entertaining Tiny Toons was. The humor in Animaniacs was often so left-field that I was just bored. I could […]
19 Feb 07
Last Saturday, I attended a choral concert by the Master Singers of Virginia of Rachmaninoff’s Vespers. It was beautiful beyond words. “Vespers” is actually a misnomer. It was written for the All Night Vigil, which lasts from Vespers (the evening service) through Matins (the night/early morning service) to Prime (the dawn service). Thus, the music begins by echoing the quiet, lilting liturgy of the candlelit evening service, reaching a crescendo of adoration and supplication in the middle of Matins, […]