Yeah, I really need to draw more. I've got only about 3 or 4 drawings posted, and haven't drawn much of anything since I made them. I've realized that I've also written considerably less in my novel, and I believe these two forms of artistic atrophy are connected.

I don't know whether I will keep this commitment or not, but I need to draw more. Much more. I'm going to try (again) to draw and post characters from my novel for your consideration. The story itself has undergone many drastic changes and may undergo more such changes as well, but I'd still like to solidify my characters on paper.

Q: What was the point and purpose of this rant?

A: The purpose of a rant is to rant, and that's the point.

We've all had it.

It's that feeling when you've just read the last page of a good book, the last panel of a good manga, or the last episode of a good show.

You feel like something important to you just ceased to exist, and there's nothing you can ever do to really bring it back. Re-reading or re-watching just doesn't cut it either.

You can't even go to your friends or relatives, as most of them will have no idea what you're talking about, and won't find it important, because in the end it isn't.

Art is my way of coping with this belittled yet unfairly powerful emotion, and since I just finished the last page of a good comic (though the mere mention of its name would probably earn me derisive sniggers) you can expect an influx of art very soon from my direction.

Seeing as how those who read my journals are a fairly non-judgmental lot, I'll say the name of the comic...

but you have to promise not to laugh...

It's called "Mahou Sensei Negima!" and if you ignore the fan-service you might just find the same fun story I did.

I just got back from 15 hours of labor for our government, and mom turns on the TV to make the day worse. As a Republican and a Mormon, naturally I was really hoping that Romney would win. When the first thing you see on any channel is "OBAMA WON" that can kind of ruin an already hard day full of helping the system that made the misery of your loss possible.

Politics suck.

So, hoping to escape from the disappointing real world, I turn my attention to the internet, only to find that my sister's life sucks much worse than mine, which makes me feel even worse.

There is, however, a shining ray of light along the deep dark clouds of my gloom... the flashing lightning and roaring, thunderous cheers of the word "stipend!"

Now I can use the money I earned to make my sister's life easier, even by just a little. Now all I need is to obliterate all thoughts of politics from my mind and I'll be happy again!

I haven't done much with FA since the advent of my new computer and its lack of any form of useable picture editing programs like Photoshop or SAI, and it is only now that my sister revealed to me that I could post incomplete works of art that I'm coming back. I do intend to finish everything I post so they don't always look like sketches, but that time will have to wait.

I seem to be failing at this whole job search thing, and I'm starting to consider just going to a university and worrying about employment later. I really want a job because I like having money and the nice things I get with it, but so far my only marketable skills are a fading grasp of Korean and NREMT certification. We'll see.

Came into the dining room the other day (the room devoted to the family computer, the only one currently with internet access) and lo and behold it had decided to update itself to a new version. This had the effect of removing all files from the desktop and shoving them in to documents, where there was plenty of room because it had erased everything there already.

Oh updates, why are you always such a problem?

Anyway, this will set me back a bit as far as requests go because it wiped out some pertinent things I'll have to do over.

Also, starting June 23rd (this Saturday) until the 30th (next Saturday) I will be at Arrowhead FLSR Scout Camp helping boys discover trees and dirt and other remarkable things not available on their iPhones.

During this time, I won't be able to work on much of anything, so sorry Vitamin, that free sketch or your character is going to be a bit later than I thought, though I've already got the pose and basic design down.

So yeah, I've decided to take my sister's good advice and try doing a mini IronArtist (mini because I'm not good enough to charge for my work). I don't know how exactly this is supposed to work, but if anyone is interested send me a message with what you want.

Note the sudden arrival of pagebreaks- also due to my sister's genius.

I can only promise to do my best, and I'm only good at what most people would call a sketch, but on the other hand I'm not asking for anything in return, so what have you got to lose right?

So my mom sortof banished me from my computer until the trash-heap/ dragon's hoarde of my room is traversible. *hoardhoard* So... I've taken up residence more or less on the couch watching Netflix on my Wii, an activity usually reserved for my father.
I have a passion for anime, and have eaten up many episodes, leaving few series left unmolested. School Rumble, Pumpkin Scissors, even Friendship is Magic has fallen to my otaku fury. Out of desperation I have even watched less-than-good anime like Demon King Daimao and Shuffle.
Now that my deposed father has returned to his throne upon the couch, aided in no small measure by my mother and her love for TED talks, I am left with little recourse but to draw. I don't like to draw as much as my sister because I'm keenly aware of my own weakness regarding the art, but it's not an unpleasant passtime.
Despite the overblown drama of my typeset, life is obviously not all that bad. Anyone who knows me will recognize my sarcasm, but in a flash of reason so rare to one such as myself, I thought I might explain myself to those who find my style of blowing even the smallest of sleights out of proportion in a quasi-shakespearean lament.
Meh, enough about that. I really do like drawing, but without something specific to draw, its pretty hard to be motivated. My style may not be very good, but if anyone is interested in trading something, I'll do my best to please. I only do lineart, and I'm not asking for anything wonderful in return, but I figure its a good way to go about getting myself motivated.
The fact that you have read this far means that you have an unusually good attention span, and you have my congratulations.

Much to my dad's dismay, I have given in to the relentless promptings of multiple people including my sister and have watched the first 26 episodes of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. Call me a girly man if you want, but I liked it, but no real surprise there. I also like Fruits Basket and Ouran High School Host Club, so I've been a girly man for a long time. The worst of it is, I'm okay with that.
My mom is on vacation with my uncle again, this time to Arizona to visit caves and take pictures of rocks. My uncle is practically a professional photagrapher, though he does floors more often than anything else, probably even sleeping. He's a bit of a workoholic, so going on vacation is probably a good thing for him. My mom is also a bit of a workoholic, and she can use an escape from her life in real estate.
I've started back into The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and have re-discovered why it is my favorite game of all time. Sure, its sequel Oblivion has smoother and easier controls and better graphics, but there's something timeless about Morrowind's storyline and scenery that makes me wish I could visit. I wish I could put Oblivion's controls, graphics, and gates to Oblivion in Morrowind, which would result in the perfect game for me. It leaves me to wonder what sort of sweetness Skyrim has in store for me, when and if I ever get around to replacing my dinosaur computer vintage 2005 or so.
I'm getting very close to finishing the revision of my book Atalys, and will be releasing it to select audiences for proofreading, editing and suggestions. I hope to be finished with this before my birthday in July.
It has taken me several years to finally get around to watching a few episodes of Invader Zim out of curiosity, and now suddenly recognize the source of a few strange 'songs' that have long been on my dinosaur computer. Suddenly 'the doom song' makes sense, and I have become a fan of GIR, if not of Invader Zim itself.
I don't come here often, but it is nice to have a place to write random journals and read those written by my sister and occasionally those of her friends.