a sketch a day - July

073106
Nice day, until 6pm. Bugs till 10:30.


073006
Today went by way too fast. Busy bee.


072906
So, so day. A lot of running around
So I went to a gallery today with my ex-class mates. Since one's a painter and liked William Keith, we went to see St Mary's Colleges' collection of some of his paintings. Also on exhibit, were an artist's collection of toys that he'd made to display as "art". Some of the pieces were pretty interesting because they are made from found objects, like sardine cans, and old silverware. Well, I liked that, so I think I'll do some toy designs, too, but they may not necessarily be "mainstream" or even practical, hahaha.


072806
Friday, yeah! Need I say more?


072706
A lazy day. Need to be more productive
Went and saw Lady in the Water with a few friends. I know that it got some bad reviews, but I have to say that I liked it. Not as good as Six Sense, but not too bad either. It's a fairy tale and it's slow, so people expecting something more action oriented should not go. It's like The Never Ending Story or the first half of Narnia. As for being productive, I guess I need to make a lot of things this summer. That's the plan anyway. These things have been floating in my mind for many months, and with the purchase of a new planer, there's no more excuses, but vacation comes first:p


072606
Today was a beautiful day. Savior it, memorize it and file it away in the back of your memory for those days when it just sucks.
Indeed, the morning was perfect driving to work. The air was not too cold and not too hot. It was as if the body became one with the air around me. Seems a bit silly, but days like these are rare for it's either a little hot or a little cold, or smelly from the car exhaust. Work was slow and I actually had time to clean up the cube. Went through all my boxes of crap that I've accumulated over the past four years and consolidated them. By the time I was done, the garbage was overflowing with old junk and the so was the blue "recycling" bin of paper. What I would up with was two full boxes of toys, one of books and one miscellaneous "stuff". Also left over were an amalgam of drinks from Red Bull to Champaign. These were liberated from the, once regular and now only on the first Friday of the month, Friday team meetings where beer and snacks would be available to the team. Yes, those days are gone, so too were the free bottled water. Now the filtered tap water is the norm.


072506
An absolute pissy two days and I don't know why:-I
I think the heat is finally getting to me as I've become irritable with stupid people on the highway. People should be required to take combat driving classes before they can get their drivers license. That way, they'll know that when someone is merging from the onramp, either speed up, if you're in front of him, or slow the f'down if you're behind them. Because if you drive the same speed, you'll run them off the road!!!


072406
A casual day as the temperature drops to a more tolerant level.
Again, as I was planning to leave at a reasonable hour from work, a late bug prevents me from doing so. But all is not in despair for I have recently purchased a cheap guitar to be kept around the office for just such occasions, heh, heh. And so, I pluck away at it while waiting for the painfully long builds to finish, fantasizing about being able to actually play like the guitar heroes that I listen to all of the time. My search for an American Strat is becoming more and more discouraging as I am constantly outbid on Ebay. I can't believe that one would cost so much, even a used one. Now am just more determine to get one for a price I can afford, or just forget it all together.


072306
Today's weather continues to be hot. Oh, please, when will it end?
Since I'm going to be on a road trip with friends soon, I've decided to "modernize" the trip vehicle. What I mean by this is that I wanted to install a DVD player for the passengers on this trip. I think it'll be fun to try and make a mount for a portable DVD player because I sure don't want to spend too much money for a real one, hahaha. I'm a cheap bastard when it comes to things that I think I can make for a lot less money. I had it all figured out; a cross bar of some sort (to support the DVD player), some large knobs and bolts ( for ease of install and removal of said support), a cheap camera mount ( for mounting of DVD player), an angled bracket of some sort ( for support of the DVD mount). Supply list jotted down, and off I went to the the hardware store - this was weeks ago.

Well, today was the day that everything was going to be put together. But not from scratch. Let me explain. You se, I've been fiddling with the parts here and there for the past week, so a lot of the "rough" construction was done. Today was just final fitting and testing, and I must say, it wasn't as smooth and easy as I thought it would be. I guess they never are:p

The First fitting yield a major flaw in my design. Since the head rest post are set at an angle, so follows the support bar and the DVD players screen. And unfortunately for me, it was facing the wrong way - down, That was obviously the wrong way. The passengers would have to scrounge down in their seats, or tilt their head at an angle to be able to see the screen at all. Definitely not very comfortable. What to do? Anyway, to make a long story short, I attached a camera mount to the DVD mount, that's screwed onto the cross-support bar, that's clampedd onto the head rest posts. How's that for a mouth full of words? And now the DVD just mounts to the camera mount and everything seems to work pretty good. The whole thing kind of came out the opposit way that I thought it would be. I guess the real test, now, will be to see if this Mickey mouse set up will survive the trip, without falling apart, hahahahaha..........yeah.


072206
The days are still hot as hell. Another two days of this?
Three hours of sleep within the last forty eight. Needless to say I am a bit tired. The mind goes into "auto pilot" at some point and concentration goes out the door. I can't do anything that requires deep thinking within the last six. As you can see from yesterday's drawing, not much inspiration or effort. My bad! Today's sketch is much better, HA!


072106
Totally bored and uninspired day. Need a dunk in the pool.


072006
Melancholy day. Boil it in oil.
Went to see a couple friends at lunch who works at Cryptic Studios in Los Gatos. They showed my two workers and myself some of the things they are working on. As you may or may not know, Cryptic makes the MMO City of hero's and more recently, City of villains. I have to say that I was impressed with their pipeline. Hell of a lot better than what I have to work with on a day to day bases. I think one of the main reasons why They wanted me to check out their studio was that they are in the mids of hiring for several new projects that's coming on line in a few months. They sound interesting enough, especially with a major backer from the industry. But I don't know. They are located quite a distance away, and far from the five minute commute that I am spoiled by. So this will take some thinking, and there's no guarantee of employment. Their standards are high, but then again, so are mine. I will still need to go through their hiring process. Questions, questions.


071906
Today is good, not too hot anf not too cold. Dig it.


071806
Today is a happy day. Enjoy the sun.


071706
Another hot day and humid, too. Beach weather!


071606
Today was too hot. Need some AC.
Cleaning the house when it's a hot day is just not too much fun, especially when you start sweating in a warm stuffy house. Oh, yes, and guys are just not meant to be doing sewing work. Our hands are just not delicate like women's hands are, but we do manage when we have too, HA!


071506
Today's mood is: Not too bad, a sense of relief.
So this friend, who resides in Taiwan, asks me to draw his kid from a photo a while back. I keep forgetting to do it. Well, here's what I got.


071406
Today was an annoying day. Smash it with a mallet!
I was awakened by the sounds of dueling chainsaw saws at 9:30 in the morning. This is very disturbing for today was a PTO day from work. The plan was to sleep in and then go to work and check in some data because my work computer crashed the previous night. I was way too tired to deal with it at 11:30 at night, so loud chain saws in the morning was not fun. The neighbor was having their tree cut down because it was dying from the back neighbors hack job at the fence line. Also PG&E wanted removed because it has engulfed their power lines for many years. I guess the threat of fire was also a very good reason. Since this tree was a very large pine tree of some sort, it was a great visual screen from the other neighbors. Now that it's gone, I will miss it.

So, this was supposed to be a day off, well, it didn't quite work out that way. I wound up working for a good part of the day trying to get these "rain occluders" put into the game that didn't want to work. One hell of a day. Need to unwind.


071306
Today was an easy going day. Nice and warm.


071206
work = 10am to 10:20pm
Today is a beautiful. Too bad I'm in a concrete cave.
One thing about office buildings is that they are quite depressing to be in, which is why every time I get moved, I will request a window cube when ever possible. Most artist prefer dark spaces to work, but I just find dark spaces depressing and uncomfortable. I also find that it's much harder for me to be productive in dark spaces, for tend to doze off and fall asleep at my desk. If I had a choice, I'd have my blinds open all the time but that would just get people pissed off at me. So they stay closed just enough to keep everyone happy. I also turn on all the lights in my little cube as well, heh, heh. That, they have no control over.


071106
Today is a bit rushed. Must hurry!


071006
Work = 9:30am to 11:20pm
Today was a productive day. Make a happy face.


070906
Today was a lazy day. Light a match under it.

Yes, indeed, as much as I would have liked to get some projects going, nothing happened. It must be the long hours through out this week that I have been working, and I just wanted to regenerate before the possibilities of another one this coming week.

Had breakfast with a friend who was driving back down to LA this morning. We've known each other for quite some time, and he occasionally comes up to visit his family. Since he's working in the architecture field, I asked if he would help me out on a project I'm thinking of doing, for which he said he would.


070806
Today is a very long day. Open a bottle of sleep.


070706
Work = 8:30am - 10:00pm
Today was a good day, until the afternoon. I need to smack someone upside the head.
Yes, indeed. Had one bug this morning that got taken cared off, but of course, I got more handed to me by the afternoon. It would not be so bad if the iteration times were not more than five minutes long. Instead, they are around an hour or more, even for simple fixes like moving something over two inches. So with two computers working all day long, I can only clear off two bugs. Yes, someone needs to have their head smacked for creating such wasted time!


070606
Today is an okay day. Maybe take a nap or something.
I think I will need to find a used American Strat Plus. I have been wanting one for the longest time but could never afford one. Even a used one. I think I will actually put an effort into finding one. I don't know why, but I really like that guitar. The sad thing is I don't really know how to play one. I've been plucking away at my Squire Strat every so often, but that's just a poor substitute. The funny thing is that it might not be any different, hahaha. So why am I starting to get into this guitar thing again? Well, a co-worker is going to buy that Squire and so I will need a replacement, heh, heh. Maybe this time I will actually put more of an effort into playing one. Also another co-worker, who plays quite well, went out and bought a guitar so he can have something to do while waiting for the build to finish.


070506
Today is a good day. Go out and have fun.


070406
And here we are again, on another day of celebration and the traditional barba que that any one, who calls themselves an American, should do. So, it's with no surprise that I get many invitations to participate. First, it's the co-worker who's birthday was not too long ago, and a lot of people from work chipped in to get him a, you know what, yes, a barba que. This is so that he would have no excuse to throw a barba que party. And what a better time it is to do it then the Forth of July! Then, it's the other co-worker that also decided to throw his on the same day. This Southerner, boasts about how the South knows how to Que! So people are always challenging him to put his money where his mouth is. And last week, he said his going to, on the Forth. Thirdly, I get an e-vite to another one from a friend, for whom I have not seem in months, and who lives in Alameda, and I really want to go to that one. Fifth, another friend whom I have not spoken to for in a while, IMs me to see if I can go to his in Mountain View. And then, of course, my other friend, Mark, wants to have something at his place. All in all, that's six invites for the Forth. I would love to go to all of them, but there's just not enough clones of me, or time in the day to do so. I think to myself "I can only hit three of them at most". Now that that has been decided, what order should I do them? Ok, I'll hit nation's in Alameda, then my co-worker's in Redwood Shores, and then to Marks' in San Mateo, yeah! By the end of today, I am totally stuff, like a pillow, drank like a fish, and smoked a hooka like a fiend. I am, needless to say, totally uncomfortable, and yet, having to do me sketch. Thank goodness, this happens once a year.


070306


070206


070106
I'm not insane after all. Found out that the errors last night was caused by the audio guy who checked in broken shit! Thanks to him, I'm here at work when I didn't need to be. Enough said.