"A joyful heart is the health of the body, but a depressed spirit dries up the bones."

The New Year is coming. I, for one, will do my level best to keep the optimistic spirit I've been given to resolve (heh heh, a NYR) not to complain too much in 2oo5. I've got three particular months to make up for. ^_~

Optimism does not mean ignoring problems. Nor does it mean whining when one is either whining to the wrong person or for the wrong reason. Optimism is that light at the end of the tunnel concept. And with that, I hope to become a little more mature this coming year.

New Year's is still 6 hours away for the earliest part of the world, but when the time comes, have a great one. See you in 2oo5!

Tickled Pi--ah, a color other than Pink

First off, I'm pleasantly surprised this year at just how many more mainstream media people recognized Christmas as the celebration of Christ's birth, not the conglomeration of money and materialism secular society tries to catch us up in. (And to think that Christmas is only the third most important holy day of my religion. ^_^)

Secondly, I shifted back to Chili's--and what a fantastically wonderful change it's been. I've got my favorite manager back, another manager that's a challenge, my first customer-to-manager compliment on only my second shift, and my monetary predictions are being surpassed by the generosity of my happy customers (re: Ginny make-a good money for make-a eaters happy yum yum. Heh.).

Now if I could just have a little free time to be with my beloved again, things would be very nearly perfect.

"It's funny how one man's life touches so many other men's lives, but when he's gone, he leaves a terrible hole."

Enjoy life. I know I am. *grin*

Merry birth of Christ.
And a fab New Year.

^_^

It's a VERY good thing...
SNOW! Oh for the love of everything pure and innocent, there's SNOW outside!
(Hey, I'm Texan--cut me some slack.)

And "Alien Dice" is shipping on Jan. 5. Forget the "finally" part, it's shipping soon!

Oh, I start work again tomorrow. But that's good, too. Earning money never hurt anybody. I think.

*happily bounces away*

The Good Redux...

The last three months were a learning experience for my view of the work world. It's with happiness, though, that I say I'm finally back at my home Chili's. (Fortunately, no one from my last job can find me unless I want to find them--they all think I went to a different Chili's. And that's partly coming from that mess I went through. Ugh.)

So the same guy who interviewed me the first time around did the same the second. *grins massively* That ill-tempered, wonderful butthead Ron! I don't think I can explain enough just how happy I am to have my workplace father figure back. On top of that, when I asked him about being either a manager or corporate trainer, he gave me that lopsided I-know-better-than-you grin and said, "So, you finally figured out what you wanted to be when you grow up, hmm?"

He warned me it'd take a few years to get to my goal. I told him the last three months showed me where I wanted to be (at least at this point in my life). I start again Thursday. ^_^

The Bad Redux
No word yet on Gargoyles: Season Two. *claws ground impatiently*

and the Ugly Redux
Well, I'm finally down for the count, sick wise. And there's a lovely hill of tissues growing by my bed. At least I've got till Thursday to get better, though I'd definitely prefer sooner. I've got other stuff I need to take care of this week!

Yay!
Ginny also found the Which Gargoyles Character are you? quiz she made last year in celebration of the (long delayed) DVDs coming out.

<---*is a tremendous fangirl*

Oh, my result? Heh...

Puck, the Playful Trickster


Which Gargoyles character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

(I may love all the characters in this series, but you know what? Puck still rocks.)

Angels of the Night

Ok, so I've been seeing a lot of compilations of television shows lately. Anywhere from Friends to Seinfeld to The Simpsons. And there's been a handful of cartoon series boxed up, mostly of either the adult or anime variety (hey, gimme me my Naruto and I'll be quite happy).

So imagine my surprise when, while I was shopping, I found...

dun dun DUN!

Gargoyles!

I remember last year when the rumors were floating out about the first season (first 13 episodes) being released. How I drove my AIM buddies bonkers with chattering about said rumor nonstop. But to actually have it tangible is ...wow. Just wow. Oh the nostalgia.

I just finished the first disc and about to move on to the second. What fascinates me is the impact that I never realized the show had on me. Disney style has definitely fed into my own style over the years (heck, The Lion King helped me finally accept I was an artist ^_^); even now, I notice that my character Rondo is built similar to the gargoyles (though, instead of humanoid, he's bird/bearish). My version of storytelling also finds its genesis in Gargoyles, for rarely does anything I write appear without reason. If you've watched the show, you know exactly what I mean--how every single second has background and missing one second means missing (in a domino effect) a bigger part of the whole story. Very soap opera-ish. Always loved and hated that effect. *grin*

The other nice part is that the story and characters are built in what was fantastic for pre-anime America (1994). The characters have personalities that cause them to be so familiar to the point that you know them better than some of your real friends. And to see them again after 1o years is like going to a reunion, with them being just as you left them. The heroes you loved to cheer on, the villians you delighted in hating, and the inbetweens with who you learned about life.

Here's to seeing #14-65 on disc soon.

I'd take "Scotty" over him any day

Oh, I know the type very well. Arrogant, stuck up "brainiacs" who think they are part of a priveledged few to have a brain while they enjoy everyone else's stupidity because it is expected to live in an ignorant world (when in actually, having such a ideal of themselves means that, with an absence of the imagined stupidity in their view of the world, they would cease to have meaning). They loudly scream their ability to be open minded and intelligent when in actuality, they are not; confronting them with such a thought will only prompt a snide remark that you noticing their narrowmindedness means, wow, you have a sliver more of a brain than the rest of the world. But nowhere near the levels of their brain, so therefore, what you say doesn't matter anyway, because they didn't think of it. Nor do they care.

A very irritating kind of people they are. One of their favorite pasttimes (next to being so deeply immersed in showing up everyone else in working, playing, and just plain living) is discovering someone's interest, then belittling the -censored- out of it. So it was only a matter of time until one of the newest forms of expressive art became a target.

I love comics. Reading the newspaper funnies is my cup of coffee in the morning. A glance at my blog shows an extensive list of my follow up cup. I have massive collection books of favorites sitting in piles in my room. Other piles are made up of sketches for three seperate ideas I have for my own personal comic.

Entertainment and the people it is embodied in survives only as long as someone is watching. I am priveledged enough to be the reader, a person endowed with the power to make or break someone. I am not, in any way, forced to read what's in the newspaper or on the Internet. I am under no pressure to make a purchase of any one book. Acknowledging someone speaking to you is an honor to the speaker; paying to hear them speak is beyond words.

For those who appreciate it, that is.

I have to admit, when I saw Wiley's strip yesterday ("Non Sequitur", Tuesday, December 14, 2oo4), I giggled a little, thinking it was a potshot at website nerds in general. I read the follow up commentary by local cartoonist Scott Kurtz earlier this morning, and well, you're looking my resulting reaction now. Regardless of whether or not Wiley was intentionally marking Kurtz as a target, Wiley's message was clear: he doesn't respect the online comic as an expressive art.

"Old-school" comic strip artists are understandably upset, because it seems that they toiled and drudged for years to be noticed; even then, recognition and money were scant because not every sindication was a guaranteed promise of a book deal or job security. To have unpaid, self-motivated little nobodies come from behind, using technology to their advantage, is just head-shaking horrible. I don't think I've been this upset since that one computer nerd William managed to skip out of college.

Though I am loathe to say this, I don't enjoy the newspaper comics as much as I used to. Recently, my local newspaper held a comic strip contest, which is now reputed as being a veiled attempt to cut back the number of strips they run. When my first cup of coffee grows smaller, I make up the difference by making my second cup larger (31 links and growing). Ask anyone who has read webcomics how they started reading them. By word of mouth. From someone else who was satisfied. Nine times out of ten, there will be links to other webcomics, which will have links to other webcomics, and so on and so forth. Political commentary, fantastical storytelling, or just plain funny, there's something for everyone.

The fear is that readers will be drawn to what has already established itself. To follow to the Internet and view unrestricted cartoonists who never had to deal with the threat of being pulled for their views, like Wiley or McGruder. To see the people who could have their cake and eat it, too. And, perhaps, think they could rise to such greatness, and leave no one behind to acknowledge anyone.

No, webcomics are not the AntiChrist for cartoonists nor are they the collapse of the artistic society. Webcomics are an expression, just like the prepackaged printed versions. Kurtz and others are just nudging us toward our ability to choose how we want to be entertained and maybe even informed. It's the same thing Wiley's been toting for years--he's just mad because it wasn't done under his terms.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some storyboards to draw.

"Good times, good times...want another Sour?"
So long and see ya later...
...Anita, Charles, Darriel, Jackie, Jimmy, Luvenia, Maria, Priscilla, Ronald, Steve, and Susan.
..."Rick James", "Will Smith/Michael Jackson", "Italian Stallion", Craig, and Chad.
...Mitsuo, Jonathon, Ben, Bennie, Jésus, Ricardo(s) 1, 2, and 3, the camera dude, "Mr. T", "Lieberman", Christy, all the Returns people, all the patient loaders and Delivery guys (even after dropping a palette on my foot!), Paul, Everett, and anyone else for who I made the job a little more cheerier. ^_~

I won't forget you guys or the things you taught me.

Ok, so I'm reading the "Religion" section in the newspaper today...
*BREEP BREEP!*
THIS IS A RELIGIOUS RANT WARNING! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!

...and stumbled across an article about Christians helping people in Afghanistan (and boy, how many stomachs just flipped or shoulders cringe at that sentence?).

Well, not stumble--it was front page of the section. What the article basically broke down to was that Christian missionaries working as doctors are pushing their faith a little hard on the inhabitants; as a result, the Islamic people that work with them are "altering" (for lack of a better word) what they do to avoid a deadly risk.

Drama aside, it's quite deadly. People are getting killed for breathing anything about Christianity.

Before you start branding me as a one sided religious freak, understand this--I'm not writing this rant to talk about how wrong any side is. What I'm writing this rant about is how sad a state our world is in.

I understand how it feels to have someone to push their ideas onto me when they are attempting to help me. And when I try to react in kind just to share intellectual conversation, they quickly shoot down my ideas because they are different. (I'm also sick and tired to death of people acting like every religion except Christianity is an ok one--it's gotten to the point where some people are making me feel like I'm evil for being one.)

I also understand that, when someone is sharing ideas (be it a salesman or an evangelist), bulling in with both fists and pulling guilt as a sucker punch is one of the worst possible ways to make anyone listen. (Thus my preference of being a talker only when someone asks.)

What I cannot understand for the life of me is how certain people (who I will not recognize by any religious sect--I'm that furious about this) would deny any exchange of ideas outside their society by threatening death and following through on it. Being devoted and being forced to live a certain way are not the same thing. I thought I had a bad time of it at Fry's with office politics and wondering who was going to vocally stab me in the back for something I said or did. HA.

What's even worse is that this is not the first time in the history of the world. That it doesn't even had to be people of two different cultures; those even in the same defined group have killed each other for scant reason (Salem witch trials, to name one of so very many).

Our Creator gave us free will, not just in America (which, as screwy as it may be, is still the land that I love for letting me exercise my free will to a longer extent (though not its fullest) than most can claim), but in this entire world. The freedom to enjoy life, to make mistakes, to learn, and to continue living. The freedom to find our own path in life.

Maybe my mind is just all spaztic to how strongly I reacted to reading this article. All I know is, lack of tolerance (from anyone) in a black and white world will never grant it the peace it needs.

*bows stiffly* Thank you and good night.

The plushies are everywhere!
"Alien Dice" is making a base form Zeta, while "RPG World" is teasing about a Dragobo one. (Both are lizards; and yes, that's DRAgobo, NOT Chocobo.)

Miyazaki teh 1337
So lately, anime has taken this house by storm (and no, that's not a bad thing--I personally find the Japanese to be colorful storytellers, much better than Americans). To be honest, I still only dabble compared to what my co-worker at work has ("Downloaded, just not watched yet!"). I've discovered a few great names (Kishimoto, anyone?).

My dear Sara has a talent for finding the best reflections of a childlike human nature, of what we desire life to be and what it really is. One of the reflectors she found was Miyazaki.

No kungfu fighting here. No "everyone depends on ME and ONLY me to save the world". No overdone robots (THANK YOU!). No oversaturation of magic ad naseum. Those are all fun in themselves, but what's nice about Miyazaki is that Miyazaki is different. And can pull it off. Go ahead and admit that you thought anime was only done one way. It's okay. Americans have been able to make the occasional award-winning cartoon that will be remembered years from now ("Recess", among others), and it wasn't always of the commercialism variety. It worked because it was different.

I've seen both "Spirited Away" and "Princess Mononoke" (though I prefer the first). In an effort not to turn into some gushing little fangirl, I'll just say everything was balanced well in both. The music enhances the mood or remains silent. The stories show the innocence of childhood while also allowing the adult world to pervade, comical at times but also true to life. There are no bad guys here, just characters who are trying to live their lives and snatch at better ones. And the art ...oh the ....oh drool. Suffice it to say, this doodler is at a loss for words, the backgrounds are so real.

Now I too am dashing down that path of "more Miyazaki"! And in the end, I think it's more a sign of respect than anything.

Would someone like to tell me...
...what this is all about?

Meanwhile, we're back to one and a half computers here. Mine being the half, unfortunately. I'm definitely investing in a personal computer for my apartment when finances allow. For now, I'm going before my computer blows up (again).

And this is for my beloved taking his finals. Terrahness! you'll be fine! ^_^

Eep!

The Scottish selkie was a being who appeared to be
a seal, but had the ability to shed their skin
and roam the land in human form. If a human
were to happen upon the discarded seal skin, he
or she could hide it and force the selkie to
marry him or her. However, if the selkie were
to ever find the skin, he or she would
immediately reassume seal form and return to
the sea from whence they came, leaving their
spouse and offspring on land to forever mourn
their loss.

As a selkie, you are a very withdrawn, secretive
and somewhat sad person, and those around you
find you alluring and mystifying. People who
come into your life find it difficult to find
the inner you. You are also curious, but you
enjoy the comforts of home most of all.


Who is your inner Shapeshifter?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hee hee hee
If they only knew how true this is. Or lemme rephrase that--they've been spying on Jamal to get that character right.

Trust me, love, you'll find it amusing. ^_~

Oh, and this one, as well.

Entertainment Factor
The Incredibles. Oh yeah, I definitely recommend it--just not for the really young or really fidgety. More James Bond-ish than superhero-ish. ^_^

Waaaaaaah! "What I Learned Today" is ending this Friday! *bawls*

As for old-skool, I am on Disk 2 of FFViii and am in possession of Quetzal, Shiva, Ifrit, Siren, Brothers, Diablos, Carbuncle, and Leviathan. Alexander looks like it is next on the list. For now, I'm just trying to keep from ramming the Garden into everything, heh.

(...psst! Notice it's Decemeber yet?)