another brain dump
Updating is a pain. Life is short and I spend all day living it and then I rarely want to set aside any time to record it. Even taking pictures gets tedious because I know I'll have to sort through them at some point and delete the crappy ones. I forced myself to draw today and that was good. It's hard for me to stop reading and admiring artwork in comics to attempt some of it myself. I'm not skilled enough, I don't practice enough, I like to have everything look perfect and if it ain't solid in deliberate neat ink I don't even want to deal with it. Even when I look at art books that have the artist's rough sketches I'm thinking to myself "Man, this sucks." Final product is all I like, and even then I don't care for background or action, I just love the iconic poses and stuff suited for a cover. Today I drew the current Batgirl, Stephanie Brown. I like Batman comics but it's all the expanded Gotham Universe that is just awesome. All the Batgirls, Oracle, Birds of Prey, the villains. Robin (Tim Drake) is usually interesting, too. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson don't do much for me as characters but if they are involved in an interesting crime story I'll read it. I read Gen 13, Spider-man, Nomad, and some other stuff today. Tomorrow I'm starting Book 6 in Stephen King's Dark Tower series and I'm going to take it hiking with me because there will be plenty of time to read off my computer screen in the fall.
TV sucks. Not all the shows, but the medium and the presentation. There are shows I watch on my laptop that I enjoy... Curb Your Enthusiasm, Glee, Dexter but actual TV viewing SUCKS. I don't even watch anything at all unless I'm eating or stretching my wrist out. If my hands are free that means it's good to do something with them. I hate commercials, I hate live studio audiences, I hate all the reality shows. There are some I can enjoy briefly like American Pickers, LA Ink, etc but even those add in the bs drama and conflict. It's not necessary and insulting to the audience's intelligence. Live studio audiences enrage me for the same reason...just because they can get some idiots in there to fill the chairs and yell their heads off I'm not going to be fooled that anything exciting is happening. I really don't even watch tv unless I'm over at Josh's house (and at least he has tivo so much like viewing things online you can watch exactly when you want and avoid commercials) but every time I go up to my parent's house to make food I'm reminded of how much I hate noise and TV. I think I need to get noise cancelling headphones. Basically if I am doing any mundane everyday crap like making food, walking the dog, doing dishes I will go crazy if I can't listen to some podcasts so I don't feel like I am just totally pissing away my time. I used to listen to music a lot doing these things but that's not enough. I need the information and this way I at least have some idea of current events.
My neighbor went away twice recently so I was feeding her horses, dogs, and 10 cats so I wasn't holed up in the treehouse nearly enough and the past few days that I haven't needed to do that I've been reading even more compulsively than normal and sleep is a total enemy. My sentence structure and grammar could use some work. Even if I just stuck with what I should know from all the talented authors I read I could be much better. I really love drinking... water, coffee, vodka. Something has to be in arm's reach at all times. It's annoying to wake up dying to pee every night but the evening feels downright empty if i am not drinking water until I go to sleep. I've been drinking more soy protein and caffeine drink mixes lately, too. It's a good way to skip coffee on the days that are going to be really hot. Not much complaints on the weather. I think I had maybe four days in the treehouse where I was boiling and I escaped to the stream some other times but this summer has been pretty mild.
Dear Nora has some of the best songs on the Three States Rarities album which was the first one I heard. The other albums were a big letdown in comparison only because Three States was the one I heard first and it had so many great songs (mood, lyrics, music). I felt like it was written by some heart broken high schoolers in one night recorded in the basement. It was like "Hey we all kinda feel like committing suicide but lets just write and record songs that perfectly capture life as we know it instead." I wouldn't even say the songs are particularly sad but they do give me a feeling of nostalgia. The only reason I have it is because I wanted to download the original version of "Up on the roof" that the get up kids covered and a song by dear nora of the same title came up in the search and i happened to like it even though it wasn't another cover of the same song.
I freaking love the internet. It has totally revolutionized life. 's everybody's personal library and useful as shit if you get past the time suck of online chatting and social networking crapola. I used to talk on irc and AIM all the time but now I can't even stand waiting for replies while the other person types, even though I have 4 other windows to look through while I wait. As a kid I'd be spending all this money and time getting information about stuff I liked...skateboarding magazines, buying albums blind to SEE if I liked them because of something I'd heard, looking at catalogs to see what toys I wanted to get for my birthday or Christmas, totally random comics and books from the library and yard sales. Now I can;t even figure out the right order to read some comics in wihtout lots of help from various website lists. The only cool thing back then was it was a lot more memorable because of it's uniqueness and physical presence...not like now when I shove a hundred websites and 20 hours of news, lecture, science, sociology podcasts into my brain every week and retain very little of it but man it feels good injecting all that in there. Screw it though, I've already come to terms with the fact that if I want to experience the amount of things I'm interested in there's just no way I'm going to be an expert on any of it for long. Anyone I try to tell about something I've learned is misinformed...I need to just say right off the bat...look it up yourself online so you don't get my biased and murky summary stuck in your head first. I often wonder just how much of my brain I have access to is filled up with the locations and existence of my thousands of files and stuff I've bought over the years. When I put a photo in the wrong folder and can;t find it I'm usually right that I didn't delete, it is definitely in there, I just need to find it.
foolish comic alterations. i'm still looking for some of the other ones i did.
that's Cassandra Cain, not Stephanie Brown for any nerds keeping track. All the Batgirls are awesome, although I think Cassandra has the best back story. Huntress pulled a brief stint as Batgirl as well. Batman never saw a costume with so much junk in the trunk. Selena who? I'm not sure what is up with Batgirl now, I think it's resetting to number 1 in September with Babs back in the costume. I just hope they feature Stephanie and Cassandra heavily in the other books. Cassandra could probably star in her own book, The Black Bat. The artwork of her in hong kong has been sweet.
Tomorrow I'm going to work out briefly, feed the horses, and go hiking. I can do push ups and chin ups even though my wrist doesn't quite move as far as it used to. I would say my main problem now is the muscle I lost using only my right side for a number of months. I really feel the difference through my shoulders and lower back. My arms are in good shape just from doing yard work and I hope to get back to normal slowly but surely.
I may go out this weekend.. It's hard to pry myself away from my routine because I enjoy the same things so much over and over again. I go to sleep looking forward to reading, coffee, and the same food I eat every single other day. I really don't need ay variety. I like a sure thing that is already optimized. Technically, yes, I would have more fun if I went out...but how much more? Would it even be worth the time spent sitting in a car? Maybe, maybe not. Probably not.
TV sucks. Not all the shows, but the medium and the presentation. There are shows I watch on my laptop that I enjoy... Curb Your Enthusiasm, Glee, Dexter but actual TV viewing SUCKS. I don't even watch anything at all unless I'm eating or stretching my wrist out. If my hands are free that means it's good to do something with them. I hate commercials, I hate live studio audiences, I hate all the reality shows. There are some I can enjoy briefly like American Pickers, LA Ink, etc but even those add in the bs drama and conflict. It's not necessary and insulting to the audience's intelligence. Live studio audiences enrage me for the same reason...just because they can get some idiots in there to fill the chairs and yell their heads off I'm not going to be fooled that anything exciting is happening. I really don't even watch tv unless I'm over at Josh's house (and at least he has tivo so much like viewing things online you can watch exactly when you want and avoid commercials) but every time I go up to my parent's house to make food I'm reminded of how much I hate noise and TV. I think I need to get noise cancelling headphones. Basically if I am doing any mundane everyday crap like making food, walking the dog, doing dishes I will go crazy if I can't listen to some podcasts so I don't feel like I am just totally pissing away my time. I used to listen to music a lot doing these things but that's not enough. I need the information and this way I at least have some idea of current events.
My neighbor went away twice recently so I was feeding her horses, dogs, and 10 cats so I wasn't holed up in the treehouse nearly enough and the past few days that I haven't needed to do that I've been reading even more compulsively than normal and sleep is a total enemy. My sentence structure and grammar could use some work. Even if I just stuck with what I should know from all the talented authors I read I could be much better. I really love drinking... water, coffee, vodka. Something has to be in arm's reach at all times. It's annoying to wake up dying to pee every night but the evening feels downright empty if i am not drinking water until I go to sleep. I've been drinking more soy protein and caffeine drink mixes lately, too. It's a good way to skip coffee on the days that are going to be really hot. Not much complaints on the weather. I think I had maybe four days in the treehouse where I was boiling and I escaped to the stream some other times but this summer has been pretty mild.
Dear Nora has some of the best songs on the Three States Rarities album which was the first one I heard. The other albums were a big letdown in comparison only because Three States was the one I heard first and it had so many great songs (mood, lyrics, music). I felt like it was written by some heart broken high schoolers in one night recorded in the basement. It was like "Hey we all kinda feel like committing suicide but lets just write and record songs that perfectly capture life as we know it instead." I wouldn't even say the songs are particularly sad but they do give me a feeling of nostalgia. The only reason I have it is because I wanted to download the original version of "Up on the roof" that the get up kids covered and a song by dear nora of the same title came up in the search and i happened to like it even though it wasn't another cover of the same song.
I freaking love the internet. It has totally revolutionized life. 's everybody's personal library and useful as shit if you get past the time suck of online chatting and social networking crapola. I used to talk on irc and AIM all the time but now I can't even stand waiting for replies while the other person types, even though I have 4 other windows to look through while I wait. As a kid I'd be spending all this money and time getting information about stuff I liked...skateboarding magazines, buying albums blind to SEE if I liked them because of something I'd heard, looking at catalogs to see what toys I wanted to get for my birthday or Christmas, totally random comics and books from the library and yard sales. Now I can;t even figure out the right order to read some comics in wihtout lots of help from various website lists. The only cool thing back then was it was a lot more memorable because of it's uniqueness and physical presence...not like now when I shove a hundred websites and 20 hours of news, lecture, science, sociology podcasts into my brain every week and retain very little of it but man it feels good injecting all that in there. Screw it though, I've already come to terms with the fact that if I want to experience the amount of things I'm interested in there's just no way I'm going to be an expert on any of it for long. Anyone I try to tell about something I've learned is misinformed...I need to just say right off the bat...look it up yourself online so you don't get my biased and murky summary stuck in your head first. I often wonder just how much of my brain I have access to is filled up with the locations and existence of my thousands of files and stuff I've bought over the years. When I put a photo in the wrong folder and can;t find it I'm usually right that I didn't delete, it is definitely in there, I just need to find it.
foolish comic alterations. i'm still looking for some of the other ones i did.
that's Cassandra Cain, not Stephanie Brown for any nerds keeping track. All the Batgirls are awesome, although I think Cassandra has the best back story. Huntress pulled a brief stint as Batgirl as well. Batman never saw a costume with so much junk in the trunk. Selena who? I'm not sure what is up with Batgirl now, I think it's resetting to number 1 in September with Babs back in the costume. I just hope they feature Stephanie and Cassandra heavily in the other books. Cassandra could probably star in her own book, The Black Bat. The artwork of her in hong kong has been sweet.
Tomorrow I'm going to work out briefly, feed the horses, and go hiking. I can do push ups and chin ups even though my wrist doesn't quite move as far as it used to. I would say my main problem now is the muscle I lost using only my right side for a number of months. I really feel the difference through my shoulders and lower back. My arms are in good shape just from doing yard work and I hope to get back to normal slowly but surely.
I may go out this weekend.. It's hard to pry myself away from my routine because I enjoy the same things so much over and over again. I go to sleep looking forward to reading, coffee, and the same food I eat every single other day. I really don't need ay variety. I like a sure thing that is already optimized. Technically, yes, I would have more fun if I went out...but how much more? Would it even be worth the time spent sitting in a car? Maybe, maybe not. Probably not.