*Been a really long time since I heard "Patience" from Guns 'N' Roses.
*Mud season has officially begun.
*In the battle for the galaxy, it looks like I might be coming down on the side of Star Trek instead of Star Wars. Now, I know what you're thinking, and I really don't want to hear it. I will continue to stand by my previous statements that the entire Star Trek mythos needs to go away for a long, long, time. I will also stand by the idea that there were only 3 true Star Wars movies. But, in the arena of newly released tabletop starship combat games, I really do think I'm going to go with Star Trek: Attack Wing over X-Wing. They both use the Flight Path system, so that's not an issue. The combat systems are close enough to be considered identical, so again, no issue there. But, I am really liking the way ST:AW makes use of the range of characters they have available. Since the majority of the ships in XW are single seat fighters, versus large scale spacecraft for ST:AW, you can only have one Named character per ship in XW. ST:AW lets you have multiples, depending on the ship being used. All of this is based in the point building systems of each game, but the factions, characters, weapons, and ships available to ST:AW just make for a much wider range of options, instead of only Rebels vs Empire. So, thus far, ST:AW will probably end up getting more money spent on it in the long run.
*Fuck. Dammit fuck fuck. Don't want to do it. That's the core of my argument. Just don't wanna. There exist a grand sum total of ZERO reasons why I should continue, and just an annoyingly large number of reasons why I should stop. I just don't wanna. I really don't recall if dealing with this was this problematic the last time around. Of course last time, I wasn't on any medication that was doing something good for me. Again, it all totals up to ZERO reasons to continue on.
*Grandma Suchner left us this week and will soon be back at the lake with Ray. The interesting question now will be whether the folks stick around or if they'll head up north.
*For once, I may have done something right. The makeshift burnisher I cobbled together for my rotary tool (it's a Black and Decker, not a Dremel, if such a thing can be believed), is doing a really good job. Now I just need to get a bunch more of the tiny blending stumps and I should be in business. Hence, I will be eagerly checking the mailbox over the next couple of weeks looking for new art supply catalogs.
*Plans for vacation are still rather formless. Probably gonna go here, might go there. Peoria/Pekin will be on the list, just not sure when.
*****
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Just Wednesday
*Been a pretty down day for me for reasons that are not quite clear. Hopefully tomorrow doesn't follow suit.
*Dear Michael's: you suck. That is all. Going back to doing business with Dick Blick (which is also just a lot more fun to say).
*Was doing some research into techniques for blending colored pencils, since the way I have been doing it for years is really starting to get to my fingers. The idea of using rubbing alcohol or odorless mineral spirits didn't seem appealing to me, and blending pencils seem to have a number of disadvantages. The most interesting thing I saw in regards to burnishing was using the back of a spoon to do it. Unusual thought, but an idea that I might be able to work with. But what all this reading actually did was make me decide to revisit the idea I had about using my Dremel as a burnisher. So I gathered all my Dremel bits and parts and pro0ceeded to see what I could do. Half an hour later, I had managed to Frankenstein together a blending stump onto the drive shaft of the Dremel. We'll see how well it works.
*Looks like CATT may yield to NETT for 2014.
*May be time to make some changes so that weekends, holidays, and evenings are once again something special and therefore something to look forward to.
*Just a hint of, what was it, maroon? Burgundy, perhaps? Either way, very nice against the black foreground.
*I'm not sure which scent I'm going to use in my new art cabinet. Patchouli? Pine? Sandalwood? Suppose it doesn't matter, as long as I can neutralize that residual Lysol smell.
*Well, the dream machine sure was running in high gear last night. And it got started a lot earlier that usual. But why Curly was the main element is something I can't figure out. Hadn't thought about her in quite a while. Leave it to my unconscious mind jump up and pop me with an emotional sucker punch like that. Beyond the blatantly obvious emotional content of the dream, the end thought I was left with was, "where the hell did that come from?!". I mean, I thought I had managed to kinda put that whole part of my life to some sort of rest next to the part of my life I spent on DC. I guess that maybe those spirits are still a bit restless. But still, the more problematic question for me is why did she pop up now? And what do I do with all this stuff that's gotten all roiled up? Maybe she's reappeared since I've been making more use of my artistic talents. That was something about her that always amazed me back in the day. Or it could just be a random reminder of just how useless of a human being I was at that point in my life.
*Usugally rumors are loudest just before they come true. Which is roughly the same time as when those in authority are denying the loudest.
*****
*Dear Michael's: you suck. That is all. Going back to doing business with Dick Blick (which is also just a lot more fun to say).
*Was doing some research into techniques for blending colored pencils, since the way I have been doing it for years is really starting to get to my fingers. The idea of using rubbing alcohol or odorless mineral spirits didn't seem appealing to me, and blending pencils seem to have a number of disadvantages. The most interesting thing I saw in regards to burnishing was using the back of a spoon to do it. Unusual thought, but an idea that I might be able to work with. But what all this reading actually did was make me decide to revisit the idea I had about using my Dremel as a burnisher. So I gathered all my Dremel bits and parts and pro0ceeded to see what I could do. Half an hour later, I had managed to Frankenstein together a blending stump onto the drive shaft of the Dremel. We'll see how well it works.
*Looks like CATT may yield to NETT for 2014.
*May be time to make some changes so that weekends, holidays, and evenings are once again something special and therefore something to look forward to.
*Just a hint of, what was it, maroon? Burgundy, perhaps? Either way, very nice against the black foreground.
*I'm not sure which scent I'm going to use in my new art cabinet. Patchouli? Pine? Sandalwood? Suppose it doesn't matter, as long as I can neutralize that residual Lysol smell.
*Well, the dream machine sure was running in high gear last night. And it got started a lot earlier that usual. But why Curly was the main element is something I can't figure out. Hadn't thought about her in quite a while. Leave it to my unconscious mind jump up and pop me with an emotional sucker punch like that. Beyond the blatantly obvious emotional content of the dream, the end thought I was left with was, "where the hell did that come from?!". I mean, I thought I had managed to kinda put that whole part of my life to some sort of rest next to the part of my life I spent on DC. I guess that maybe those spirits are still a bit restless. But still, the more problematic question for me is why did she pop up now? And what do I do with all this stuff that's gotten all roiled up? Maybe she's reappeared since I've been making more use of my artistic talents. That was something about her that always amazed me back in the day. Or it could just be a random reminder of just how useless of a human being I was at that point in my life.
*Usugally rumors are loudest just before they come true. Which is roughly the same time as when those in authority are denying the loudest.
*****
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Subsonic Cigar
*Was going to expand my X-Wing fleet the other day, until I started doing some more reading about Star Trek: Attack Wing. I had already gotten the XW base set and a couple of additional ships, and I liked the system for the most part. And, I do prefer Star Wars to Star Trwek. So, the idea of starting an entirely new system, as well as switching mythos seemed unnecessary at best. Still, I went to BGG and read a bunch of posts comparing the two systems, and I think I just might end up getting myself an ST:AW base set. The idea that ST:AW is hyper-customizeable is something I really like and it also makes up for the quality difference in the minis (this from the guy who still uses cardboard stand-ups to play Battletech). I think I'll still get some more ships for my XW setup (I simply MUST have a rebel transport or three!! (That's sarcasm, BTW)), but it does sound like ST:AW is going to be worth a try.
*My copy of Fortress America is now worth substantially less than it was as I actually made the mistake of opening it, assembling the pieces, and punching out all the tokens. Silly me, I thought games were for playing.
*Good thing I got that reminder call today, since I had no idea that I had a doctor's appointment on Monday. I had been thinking I was about due for another talk on the importance of medication compliance from Mike.
*Over a month away, and already people are asking what I want for my birthday. This despite me telling people over and over that I don't walk around with a list of stuff that I want in my pocket. So, you know what that means...yup... gonna end up with gift cards.
*I will not be drawn into this pointless hope that spring may actually be starting, since the weather will no doubt turn around and piss on us yet again.
*The email said there were around 50 tickets left for Ohana. Someone wants to wait for South Ohana 2015 to attend another one, but since I haven't been in two years, I think, I'd kinda like to go to Lake George again. It's also supposed to be a convention year, so that means things start on Wednesday, which would add a couple of days to the hotel stay (basically a week). Plus I'm just not sure that 'm up to 2 days on the road in both directions, either. But, I haven't been able to go through the fezzing ceremony yet, either. So, the waffling continues.
*Heading down to see the family next weekend. Hope to see some other folks as well. A lot of places should be celebrating St. Pat's day, so could be interesting to see what's going on in Peoria.
*Finished a rough work based on an idea that's been rattling around in my head for quite a while. Of course, it didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to, but it wasn't bad. Did give me some ideas for the next version, though. And actually, as I was writing that last sentence, I had another idea for yet another version of that piece. I also found that I may have to slightly change my opinion of Sharpies, as the brush tip black marker that I used for this piece worked quite well.
*There are times, infrequent as they may be, that I regret not going to medical school.
*Had the interesting thought the other day that if I was to get a 3D printer, I could basically make as many HeroScape terrains as I wanted to. Might also be able to make double height tiles to use for BattleTech maps. The main question I had was would the cost of making them that way, not to mention the hardware cost and the cost of the plastic, outweigh what I would spend if I were to get more from, say e-Bay. Since HS terrains are no longer being made (at least as far as I know), the supply is finite and collectors could drive the price in either direction, which means that at any given point in time it could vary as to whether it would be cheaper to make them or buy them. I'm also unsure if the printer comes with any imaging/scanning capability, or if that's another piece of equipment and software. Still, It could open up all kinds of doors for making custom game pieces and replacement parts for older games. Like that one stinking wrench I lost from my copy of Water Works.
*I keep getting Final Fight and Streets of Rage mixed up.
*****
*My copy of Fortress America is now worth substantially less than it was as I actually made the mistake of opening it, assembling the pieces, and punching out all the tokens. Silly me, I thought games were for playing.
*Good thing I got that reminder call today, since I had no idea that I had a doctor's appointment on Monday. I had been thinking I was about due for another talk on the importance of medication compliance from Mike.
*Over a month away, and already people are asking what I want for my birthday. This despite me telling people over and over that I don't walk around with a list of stuff that I want in my pocket. So, you know what that means...yup... gonna end up with gift cards.
*I will not be drawn into this pointless hope that spring may actually be starting, since the weather will no doubt turn around and piss on us yet again.
*The email said there were around 50 tickets left for Ohana. Someone wants to wait for South Ohana 2015 to attend another one, but since I haven't been in two years, I think, I'd kinda like to go to Lake George again. It's also supposed to be a convention year, so that means things start on Wednesday, which would add a couple of days to the hotel stay (basically a week). Plus I'm just not sure that 'm up to 2 days on the road in both directions, either. But, I haven't been able to go through the fezzing ceremony yet, either. So, the waffling continues.
*Heading down to see the family next weekend. Hope to see some other folks as well. A lot of places should be celebrating St. Pat's day, so could be interesting to see what's going on in Peoria.
*Finished a rough work based on an idea that's been rattling around in my head for quite a while. Of course, it didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to, but it wasn't bad. Did give me some ideas for the next version, though. And actually, as I was writing that last sentence, I had another idea for yet another version of that piece. I also found that I may have to slightly change my opinion of Sharpies, as the brush tip black marker that I used for this piece worked quite well.
*There are times, infrequent as they may be, that I regret not going to medical school.
*Had the interesting thought the other day that if I was to get a 3D printer, I could basically make as many HeroScape terrains as I wanted to. Might also be able to make double height tiles to use for BattleTech maps. The main question I had was would the cost of making them that way, not to mention the hardware cost and the cost of the plastic, outweigh what I would spend if I were to get more from, say e-Bay. Since HS terrains are no longer being made (at least as far as I know), the supply is finite and collectors could drive the price in either direction, which means that at any given point in time it could vary as to whether it would be cheaper to make them or buy them. I'm also unsure if the printer comes with any imaging/scanning capability, or if that's another piece of equipment and software. Still, It could open up all kinds of doors for making custom game pieces and replacement parts for older games. Like that one stinking wrench I lost from my copy of Water Works.
*I keep getting Final Fight and Streets of Rage mixed up.
*****
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