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Chilling out before work on one of the rare days I don’t have a DVR waiting for me. So much of my daily media consumption is done in the wee hours of the morning, before I can process actual conversation. But I learned to read well much earlier than I learned to speak clearly: I was reading whole novels in third grade, but didn’t manage to squeak out complete sentences in public until, probably… seventh grade? I’d go so far as to say I couldn’t express myself verbally until I was a junior in high school.
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The road goes ever on and on, but damned if I’m gonna walk another step for a while. Dani and I did a whole lotta walkin’ this week. That’s why I’ve missed so many daily doodles, and this week’s update! That’s right, New York City!
We took an Amtrak train from Boston to NYC, and met my brother and his fiancee at their lovely abode. We gladly took the shelter they offered, and broke bread with them… in this case, pizza crust with onions and sausage!
Traveling is hungry work! Dani and I shuttled across Massachusetts and ate at every stop! A coffee here, a sandwich there, splitting a turkey flatbread melt. Our fellow travelers whisk by, contained in electronic bubbles – phones, laptops, e-readers and headphones close them off from us the way newspapers and novels used to. Not Dani and I. For once, neither of us is driving. Danielle points windows and shows me people playing with dogs.
After crashing at Kevin’s, we set off at 9 AM for our Big New York Tourist Thing: The American Museum of Natural History!
I realize too late I look very different from the ID taken four years ago. My hair is cropped, I’m clean shaven. Thankfully, nothing comes of it.
The museum is awesome in the true definition of the word. It inspires awe that people created such a large monument to knowledge and history! Seeing it for the first time since I was a child was transporting. I thought it was my childhood memory exaggerating the size of the place, but it’s enormous! (TWSS) As Danielle and I enter the third floor Allosaur and Apatosaur diorama, she sighs heavily and turns to me with sparkling, grateful but tired eyes.
“That was really fun! I’m glad we made it all the way to the dinosaurs!”
I nod in agreement. “Of course, most of the fossils are above us, on the fourth floor.”
Her mouth hangs open for a moment. “There’s a FOURTH FLOOR?”
I guess the Museum of Science in Boston doesn’t compare.
By now a dull burn had soaked into my legs, up through the street and feet and creeping its way to my knees. Throbbing aches remind me I’m way out of shape, that carrying four days’ worth of clothing and gear is not something I often do. My eyelids are heavy, my ears are clogged and sinus pressure grows in my skull. I hurt. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
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Feeling really blah today. Saw “How to Train Your Dragon” this weekend. Easter happened, or Eoster, or Ishtar, or Astarte. Did know know rites celebrating resurrection around Easter-season existed thousands of years before Jesus was born? Got lots of leftover food.
Danielle and I were besieged by ants. We keep a clean kitchen, but they were all over the slightest crumbs. So we got some diatomaceous earth to wipe the filthy buggers out.
You know what I was busy with for the past few weeks. Lyndsey, back from Anime Boston, approved the image!
I’ve set my alarm clocks a half hour earlier so we have more time in the morning. The goal is to have more time and become more productive. I’m in the gross twilight zone of sleep deprivation that happens 48 hours after I change my schedule. I’ve always been a person who appreciates my unconscious life as much as (and sometimes more than) my waking life. Messing with the balance really throws me off.
Danielle is starting a brave new project. She blogging the process of working through a craft book – Crafter’s Devotional – as well as workbook assignments from Wreck This Journal and The Artist’s Way. It’s a lot to take on, and I’m proud of her ambition. Daily blogging sure puts my once-a-week routine to shame.
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Earlier this week I was linked to this by lovely co-author and psychic-soulmate Lyndsey. I’ll wait three hours until you can read all about it.
Back? Good. Later on, I had an interesting conversation with another lovely friend Stephanie in which we discussed the forced digital evolution of the written word. I didn’t bring up Dionaea House at the time, and I think Steph ended up winning in the end.
I’m still on the fence. Forms of communication never really go extinct, just out of style. People still know how to make smoke signals, chisel words in rock, press papyrus, and write in cursive. They just don’t do it so much anymore.
I made the comparison to the 3D phenomenon in cinema today. 3D is new technology that we aren’t sure how to use yet. It works best when used to shock and surprise the audience. Therefore, the best 3D movies are scary ones, like Coraline or My Bloody Valentine. Perhaps more artistic uses of 3D will be developed in time.
So it is with digital storytelling. I, a lover of webcomics, was quick to point out I’ve enjoyed reading and subscribing to webcomics for almost ten years now. Traditional, printed comics have lost the attraction. No more am I subjected to advertisements that border on insulting and obscene, or shameless self promotion of a product (because that’s what a superhero has become). I can instead have updates emailed to me.
E-readers and unforeseen future-tech will never force print into extinction, but it will purge it of all but the most stubborn survivors.
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Lyndsey and I also worked on outlining more of the Tales of Auli: Book 1 rewrite. Once more solid storylines are in place I’ll be able to draft up storyboards for the comic version.
Here’s the color test for the background, tweaked slightly for visibility on this blog.
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ME: Oh, it’s Alan-a-dale.
DANIELLE: *blank stare*
ME: The rooster.
DANIELLE: Oh yay!
I sometimes like to whistle the theme from Disney’s Robin Hood and see whose ears perk up. Those people tend to be on our side.
Been working a lot this weekend, as you can see from the blog. Here’s the state of the Zorbius/Riikos illustration:
That’s coming along nicely. Lyndsey and I had some phone conversations ironing more details out. I spent most of Saturday in or preparing to go to a birthday party for a relative. It was a cookout and the weather was nice. Ugh. I’m allergic to sunlight and fresh air, in case I haven’t made that clear.
While I’m very proud of the progress I’ve made, I’m frustrated by how much time the actual drawing is taking. I used to be a lot faster!
Also in-progress: Alucard from Hellsing versus Edward Cullen from Twilight. Guess who’s winning. Go on.
"C'mon Edward! Unleash your powers! Read my mind! Predict my attacks! C'MON! C'MON!! C'MON!!!!"
I think this article sums up how I feel about vampire mania as it exists in pop culture today.
Tags: alucard, BBC, birthday party, disney, drawing, edward, hellsing, robin hood, rooster, twilight, vampires
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