| In the far corner... |
[27 Oct 2009|02:10pm] |
It seems like I am also battling to get things accomplished when it comes
to my projects. Well in the meantime of my meandering mental minglings, I
will be getting a new revision of my personal website, HeroCentral.org, for
the next year. Its a simple approach with html to the site with a scarlet
and black color scheme. I have the correct RGB color numbers for each color
from http://kuler.adobe.com to create accompanying schemes. I also will
use the Sargent's Six Pack font on the logo, bold and closed letters. I want
to have this new version of the website done by the end of December so we
can pay more attention to the overhaul ofthe main GIRAFNetwork site. It will
be a combination of FLASH and HTML. It will combine the Dot Org site, Native
Ink Studio, Virtual Resource Library, and Safari Hut sites all into one. It
will also give space for the other artists webpages of their own. Its gonna
be great!
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| Posting today for Tomorrow! |
[22 Oct 2009|07:02pm] |
LJ 10_23
Next Week Ooot and Abooot.
Well I guess next Monday and Tuesday nights I will be house sitting
for my sister up towards Snellville. She and her husband are going
on vacation that week to see my recently married cousin in Tennessee.
I hope they enjoy those few days together. I on the other hand will
be managing an empty house with a lonely grey tabby cat named Criddles.
I'll be working on finishing the USNano pages for inking and uploading
to our FTP site for toning. I will also be readying the 100 copies of
Next...#13 for the ACC show November 15th in Atlanta.
I am trying to get Marques to draw Hey Blip! for the Sobako Kids Manga
project that I want to have in print starting January 2010. The release
will have 20 pages of a manga story, reviews on kid friendly anime &
manga, japanese food receipes for kids, pinup art, etc. I really haven't
told him much about this project because I need Keith as a Director to
sign off on it to go forward. If I can get him to do so this weekend
at the staff meeting then I will talk to Marques about do the Hey Blip!
manga. I really am enjoying his style of manga. i would like to see
his work on another story in addition to UltraSentaiNanoman. :)
Bad news in spades.
I just got a message from Leslie that the POBox rental is due Oct 31st.
This is just becoming a pain in my buttocks with little operating
liquidity. I guess I will just go ahead and write the check for the
rental ($38) and lether drop off he payment tomorrow. I'll write a
check ($12) for the remainder of the amount for the OCtober and November
dues to be deposited November 1st with Keith's $50 check. Marques is
placing his $15 straight into Paypal for me to allow that to be
tracked separately. That will keep us going until December. I already
pay for the BOX.net monthly charge and the Yahoo monthly charge out
of my own pocket each month. Neuvo-Riche straight to No-Mo Riche... :(
Keith called me and told me the issues he has been having with his printer
so he also said that he culd get me the $30 cash this Sunday to deposit
Monday and order both our FrightFest SixFlag Tickets as well as the
advance parking ticket. That way we'll just have them ready for Saturday
to leave at 11:30am to get to Six Flags a little after 12 noonish to park
and walk straight up to the gates. Marques said he was going to get his
own ticket offline this week.I have to remind them to bring cash to
pitch in for gas , their $5 part of the parking pass, and money if they
want to eat food/drink or go into the Dr Fright's Haunted House :) I can
only bring about $30 for the day after the ticket because of what I
have to buy this Sunday for my laptop.
Aldi's is selling Medion 10"x6" digital tablets that go through USB
into your PC or laptop. The kicker for the whole deal is the larger
screen area for half the price of what Bamboo or Intuos is selling
them for. Only $49.99 starting 10/25/09, one week only. I am going
to go up Sunday when they open and track one down to purchase. I'll
even go to several of them if I have to. I have to get this for my
artwork on my webcomics especially if I am to learn toning or digital
coloring for my comic art. Then I can show it off that night at the
staff meeting.
I still need to see if I can get Marques or Bruce can take off that
Windows XP specialty OS off my relatively less than new laptop. I want
to let Rome start using it to do digital clean up on production even
when he isn't over at my place . We have a lot of images to touch up
for the Dept of Publications, especially since we can help them out.
We don't have to have a high volume computer program to work on
touch up's because the images are in black/white/grey. I can probably
put my MGI Photosuite program on their to give ROme more MHertz speed
on the unit. (( Hey Marques...I am dropping off that laptop again
Friday night to see if you guys can take off that extra WinXP Prof OS
and leave the other one on there>)
Oh well lock and load!!!
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| Weekend Coming Up!!! |
[21 Oct 2009|07:16pm] |
Weekend Coming up!
Well the weekend past has moved me into a week of planned artwork. I have finished
three webcomic panels and now I can ink the remaining 16 pages for USNanoman for
Marques Huff at GIRAFNetwork. I have to letter HCU#1, DZ#7, and the Kin of Rin Jin
story for NK#10 by this weekend as well. Sunday I have to attend the GIRAFNetwork
staff meeting as well. A lot of work to accomplish this week before Saturday.
Saturday I am spending all day helping my grandparents out with yardwork and
weatherproofing their place. Busy weekend planned, so sorry guys I won't be hangin'
with any of my friends this weekend. For those of you I don't see this Sunday at
the meeting, hopefully I'll catch you on the following weekend at FightFest at
Six Flags. BUSY, BUSY, BUSY....
Well I had a very good lunch from Panda Express today. Their new entree FireCracker Chicken Breast is very tasty. The combination of breast tenders woked with pineapple, onion, and red peppers is well complemented. With a water I made my meal complete at my local P.E. here in Lawrenceville, GA. I actually had a whole hour for lunch, unlike the rest ofmy usual days here at work in which the morning patients bleed over into 15 to 25 minutes of my lunch three out of my five day work week. Don't even get me started on the evenings at closing time which is supposed to be 6pm, lol.All in all, a good lunch today.
I just found out about Olivia's PC basically dying over the weekedn from Rome. I am really not sure what to do with that. Maybe it will get her mom to find a freakin job instead of just living off SS and Olivia's money. Maybe Olivia will focus on getting some things planned for ACC or a couple others of these free shows to have a Massage Chair for donations or low fee to raise some of the money she owes to GIRAFNEtwork. I know that I harp on that alot, but we haven't been able to really get any of our books printed in volume we needed to to get into retail stores to make this program self-sufficient. She really needs to start making sculptures again to sell at the shows. Thats where she was making a killing over the last few conventions. Maybe we can pay for the supplies to have a few of her sculptures made like at the last AWA & MOMOCON. We can then sell them at the show for her and split the proceeds if any are made. That way she gets some cash and then also paying back the outstanding tab for back dues. She can then also get a free table and chair to do neck massages at MOMOCON & AWA next year to raise the rest. She'll just then need to make sure that she takes off from her "dayjob" those days. Otherwise its picking up aluminum cans to make the money...
I am working on a couple of new beginner and intermediate artist tools that I think need to be available to all artists out there whether working in sequential art or fine art. I have to state that tehse two designs are already in the process of iling for patent pending recognition. They will greatly increase a student's understanding of how to approach accomplishing perspectives in drawing scenes as well as anatomy in extreme camera angles. The first is a set of connected rulers that change along the sliding sections within the 5 rulers to create up to 3 point perspective linework. Once you choose the horizon line on the central ruler you can then choose the vanishing points either above the horizon line , below it it, or both. This is a great tool to create buildings as well as creating Bird's Eye Views as well as Worm's Eye View panels. The second apparatus that I am working on developing is a Camera Angle Sphere with a mobile wooden anatomy figure in the center. By changing the figure 360 degrees by 360 degrees you can position the View Spot of the Camera Angle along the closest X-Y Axis. The artist can also add another 360 degree option by turning the BOX-Frame over which covers the Z-Axis in that respect. I have always wanted an easy way to determine my character positions in real time to match my Mind's Eye image for the panel. So I am working on getting my prototypes together for these to be ready to submit when my proposal hits the Patent Office reviewer. I think that is really my next step to make OPM to get things off the ground with GIRAFNetwork. Get a couple of design patents, sell a bunch at art shows, conventions, then a small retailer or get a national manufacturer to buy the rights for five million. Then I can get GIRAF working on the 3/4 million annual budget it needs to go full ops across the southeast.Who-hoo!
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| New format ALL Releases from GIRAFNetwork! |
[14 Oct 2009|07:25pm] |
I am working on a new idea to implement to digital versions of our comics
that can be downloaded from our website for a reduced cost. The hardcopy
books can still be purchased from Safari Hut as well as Ka-Blam.com but
this PDF format will allow many many more people to access quick versions
of the books.This will also allow others to get digital previews as freebies,
digital versions of the comics they like. It will aslo cut down on the costs of
printing from a company standpoint. Hardcopies can be used more for
payment of submissions in that respect without a volume issue coming into
play. We can also go ahead and create our Literary works for download
as well from our site. The cost will be minimal compared to hardcopy
printing. If we want we can create whole series of volumes digitally and burn
them to MINI-CDs for sales at conventions or events. I can't wait to present
the idea to our Publications Dept this week end at the staff meeting.
I know that I am going to do the entire first volume of Conspiracy 101 in this
format. I will do a new cover to put on the front of the PDF as well in the
jewel case. The rest of the 16 issues will be compiled after that into the cover
image. Crypto is starting volume 2 starting January 2010. He says its a really
definitive year. The January issue is going to have a cover with the image
from the 2010 movie, lol. I can't wait to see what he has come up with since
his forced vacation of the last few months.
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| A moment of fun |
[11 Oct 2009|10:08am] |
Now that NeoReveng's grandfather has moved on, well physically, as his memory will live on for many many others, things can start to come to closure for his family. We picked him up from the airport after a supposed delay which never materialized. A late dinner at IHOP with a funny waitress named Kishon. She was taken aback by the fact that Neo ordered twice as much food as myself or Bochi then proceeded to scarf it down! We finished late dinner around midnight then went back for a few hours sleep at Neo's apartment. It was fun hanging out over the weekend but I still have to get five more pages inked today to be on schedule.
Jeon's images have been delivered via email. I now have to complete the bio data on them and that will be two more pages completed for the Neo Kyoto 10 issue. We have the table for March's MOMOCON reserved and now come January-February we'll be reserving an AA table for AWA 2010. All within reach these days, it seems, lol.
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| Practice what you preach! |
[09 Oct 2009|03:00pm] |
Practice What You Preach!
I have have a few issues with several of my fellow staff members at both my jobs these last
few weeks where it was evident that they had no intention of completing requirements of them.
It has become continually frustrating at both jobs with the lackadaisical attitude to communicationissues. Everyone wants to preach to others how important it is to communicate with each otherbut noone wants to communicate. All I can say is that I am losing what respect I had for myfellow managers and employees because they obviously have no respect for me at this stage.Communication of intent, desire, requirement, obligation, and assignment is necessary to meet all obligations especially on a team. I will be addressing proper communication at both jobs with everyone that I deal with. If this doesn't improve, I will be making drastic changes in how I deal with co-workers and management.
Communication is a two way street. If I request information from you then I expect a response,
timely is appreciated, but there better be a response. If someone requests anything from me
I give them the dignity and respect to answer that inquiry. I may not have the answer or
resolution they desire, but I at least acknowledge that it was asked of me. This is a simple
courtesy in this age of electronic wonder.
There is no excuse honestly not to have a profound interaction of communication between
people. Email. Phones. Cell phones.Social Communities Online. Texting. Postal Service Mail.
Carrier Pidgeon. Pony Express. Smoke Signals. Telepathy....You get my point. There are
many ways to comunicate, but they all require an active interaction on the part of the parties
involved. What is required is respect for other people and their time. Often times respect for
other people is lost because of such infantile approaches to communication. The danger therein
is that we all become like the people we don't like to deal with because we fall into the same
routines of lack of communication.
I hate giving ultimatums. This time I have no choice as it has gone on long enough, more than a year now for several co-workers. In order for me to work with you as part of a team then I
expect, nay demand, that if I request infromation from you on any given day during reasonable
time frames then you better reply to me. A reasonable time for a minimal response is one hour for those with cell phones connected to their emails and one day for those with email extenuating circumstances. No more than that time for a minimal response.There it is. There is the line in the sand and the gauntlet.
We are bound by obligation as a team to work towards the settling efforts to complete those
requirements as a sum of the whole. For a few of you this whole issue is non-existent. There
are however a few that lately have become the ant under the scrutiny of the magnifying glass
as it were. A word of warning, soon that insect under the magnifying glass feels the convexing
burn of scrutiny before too long. Thank you for those who respond timely, even if its to say thatyou can't aquiesce to my request at that time. That is at least appreciated and respectful. I will show you the same respect as long as you show me the same dignity. If you feel that you have been ignored in the times of late then perhaps you need to review how you are treating others with communication in mind.
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| been a while but still alive... |
[29 Sep 2009|07:48pm] |
|
Yeah yeah I know. The old guy is still around. Actually that is what has kept me off the internet lately. I have been working offline for the last week straight and only loading storage files or sending requested materials. Its been good this week so far. but I still have to get my two walking days in this week as well as pay rent for the end of the month tomorrow night. I am meeting Bochi_za_rasu this Friday evening for a walk at the track park locally but that leaves another day this weekend I have to walk. 100 lbs to go on my diet. I have lost about 22 over the last month but had a small set back on vacation week before last. Still working that one off, lol. Check out my stuff this month coming up. I am everywhere... I have stuff in UnitedFanzineOrganization's TFrags 209 book, Jim Main's Comic Asylum, Danger Zone #7, Neo-Kyoto #10, www.drunkduck.com/hero_central_universe, HeroCentralUniverse #0 and a lot more, whew and I said all that without stut...ttter..iing,well almost. Sorry folkd a little I, Claudius humor there. See you all soon at the Atlanta Comic Convention November 15th.
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| Back from vacation! |
[14 Sep 2009|06:39pm] |
Back from vacation!
Labor day week...St.Pete Beach, Florida...paid time off on
top of that...I can't say that the week was a total loss, lol.
I didn't get to draw any on my projects like I wanted to, but
I did go just about everywhere with my friend NeoReveng and his
roommate Bruce. It was a physically taxing week , always
on the run, but mentally it was a very slack week. I read the
latest Dr Who novel, The Doctor Trap, watched How Stella Got
Her Groove Back, played a three hour game of Scrabble, and
wrote 9 pages on my hyperstory Nan-Knights. All that amidst
beach combing, picture taking, Seaworld, Best Buy, Panera, and
lunch/dinners at Crabby Bill's, Colonnade, Buonos, Midland
Peninsula's Seafood Market and Restaurant, Georgie Boy's,
Publix, Chili's and Larry's Ice Cream Shop. What a week of
being on the go. The Sirata Beach Hotel was not up to par overall
but we survived it in the end.
I came back to Georgia in a different frame of mind from my
vacation. I re-outlined what I need to get completed by the
end of this month. I have quite a bit to get completed for UFO
and then I can start working on finishing up the GIRAF projects
by the end of October. I think that I will be able to get a
couple more printed releases out by the end of the year, especially
Land of Zoa #2 of 5. I have been taking longer on that release
to really get a lot of background details on the pages. Its
taking a little longer than I planned, but its okay. I will survive.
LOL.
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| From the beachside...Hey everyone!!!! |
[09 Sep 2009|09:17am] |
LJ 9_9
From the beachside....
What a day down here. 8 hours of driving down from Ga to FLorida. The highlight of the
sojourn's beginnining detailed around the facts that Florida doesn't have kudzu like Ga.
nor the massive amount of pine trees either. Spanish Moss however dotted the skyline.
Almost every tree sprouted the Spanish beard. That was interesting. We made the way into
the 275 entry point to St Petersburg Beach. The Sirata Beach Hotel looks okay. Its a little
retro on the 70's side of looks but that seems to be par for the course on the strip down
here...awful color schemes en masse! The hotel is nice but there are some specific issues
that did bother me. There is a $10 charge per day for internet access and the bathrooms
are like a small penny spent cubicle on the London tube. Impossible is a better word.
Other than that its okay. Marques and Bruce were not happy with the lack of channel selection
on the TV, but he seems to have helped Stella get her groove back on tonight, lol! The Pier
is definitely a great experience with its mini-aquarium and horde of bird life. Speaking
of bird life, Bruce, Marques and I were over at JOhn Pass' boardwalk looking for the Arcade
where we got a frozen custard. Bruce was attacked by a seagull. It half the top of his
waffle cone. They gave us another one but it was actually hilarious. Almost like one of those
when wild animals attack! It was unbelievable.
As for dining...I wholeheartedly endorse Crabby Bill's seafood restaurant on St Pete Beach
strip as well as Colonade of Bayside Blvd in Tampa. Tomorrow we check out Seaworld. Should
be ORCA great!
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| Week off is here! |
[04 Sep 2009|05:45pm] |
Well I am just a few days closer to a huge vacation. Two weekends, a holiday,
and a week off in between. I am planning to really recharge my artistic batteries.
I pretty much have decided to forego the water color scenery painting while on
the beach and rather capture a funky buttload of digital images of the sealife, scenery, etc to bring back to re-live the moments later on during the winter in
watercolor. I will however be focusing on sketching and drawing as the supplies
are less messy to deal with. Less supplies and easier clean up on a vacation,
lol...the stuff of legend. Honestly though, I don't want to bring a lot of things
that won't be used on the trip just to take up space. I think I can whittle
things down to two bags which includes my laptop, digital camera, drawing supplies,
clothes, and toiletries. It just might be a vacation after all that.... :)
And now for something completely different....
GIRAFNetwork.
I spoke with Marques Huff, our newest artist turned Publication Assistant,
regarding a new retail contact. He wanted to go ahead and meet up with Oxford
Games & comics on Thursday evening. I gave him an email with the standard Letter
of Intent for Consignment Inquiry that we use when we want to set up a meeting
with a potential retailer to carry the fundraiser releases. I think he now realizes
the volume of marketing materials one has to carry when doing such a cold call. So
I suggested a four prong level of attack so to speak...
Step 1) Scout of the location. Check out the spot looking like a fanboy but with
the eyes of a publisher. See what the layout of the store is. Follow the
traffic around the store. See if they carry indie small press items. Get
a business card and the manager's name, etc. Report back all the pieces
of information to the Marketing Department for their next step.
Step 2) Mail a letter of Consignment Inquiry/Press Kit. From the mailing address
and cold call information tailor the letter to focus on the Manager/Owner.
Mail the letter with the intent to set up a meeting to discuss options.
With that press kit include the Consignment Inquiry letter, business cards,
postcards, flyers, GIRAF FAQ pamphlet, a couple of freebie books from the
various lines, Digital magazine CDs, and a few GIRAFNEtwork specialty
buttons. People love freebies!
Step 3) Call to set up a meeting after we have verified they received the press
kit. Make the meeting for a Tuesday, Friday, or on the weekend. Avoid
their New Release day during the week.
Step 4) Meet with the management/owners to discuss the opportunity to get our fund
raiser books on consignment. Explain our procedures as well as the retailer
option to purchase books 60 cents cheaper per unit with no further follow
up from GIRAFNetwork until new releases are made available. Also option
them with promotional incentives including in-store book signings, free
ad space inside releases for a limited time, cross promotions, etc.
This is a great way for all the staffers working on GIRAF Marketing to approach
their contacts at local retailers. Since we don't distribute through Diamond
we are more flexible with a consignment option. This is directly related as to
how many books they want to carry each month, taking old issues back replacing
them with new ones, filling requests for additional books, as well as them paying
us only for the books sold at their store. If they choose to direct purchase units
then they can get a 35% discount per unit to recoup their costs in house. We hold
the same across the board for all retailers agreeing to carry our line of fundraiser
releases.
HEROCENTRAL.
I have uploaed the September 09 HC CultureShock freezine to Live journal and
Facebook for everyone to enjoy. We added an image to the Facebook edition with
Myazaki for the review of Ponyo. I have intentionally left two review spaces
blank until I return from my Floriday vacation next week. I will be reviewing
Seaworld and the Sirata Beach Resort. Those two reviews will go up the weekend
I get back from Florida. I plan to put up a couple of Seaworld shots for Facebook
as well.
I uploaded the first story of HeroCentral Universe on www.DrunkDuck.com today.
The idea is to get people to continually enjoy the free webcomic version but also
come back to HEROCENTRAL.org for the hardcopy sell. I uploaded Land of Zoa: Melting
Point, a special 6 page story that I originally put in an United Fanzine
Organization release earlier this year. The color version is online and the B&W
version in printed in the UFO 2009 Annual (http://unitedfanzineorganization.moonfruit.
com). I intend do more stories that will be uploaded monthly in their entirety
for fans to enjoy!
And now...One flew over the cuckoo's nest!
Thats my new ring tone on my Net10 phone...Cuckoo...Cuckoo...Cuckoo. I thought it
appropriate over these last few weeks. I think I am going to bring my digital
recorder and do a brain freeze get-a-way post beachside at the Sirata Beach Resort.
I can then do one from Seaworld as well as a couple of restaurants while down
there too. I will then transfer all the audios to my laptop. I can send wav file
emails to everyone during my trip as a fun way to bug the crap out of them, LOL.I
think that would be fun to add to the mix. I am trying to get my friends in Canada
and New Zealand to do the same thing. I want to get them to send Arts/Culture "on
the spot" kind of local updates. We'll see how that goes.
More work..
When I promoted Rome to Marketing Assistant from Media Ops this year I went ahead
and put together a few pens, notebook, and project folder together so he could
start working almost immediately from the first staff meeting at his appointment.
I am hoping that Keith will plan to so the same for Marques. Marques is now the
Publications Department Assistant as well as staff artist. Its important for Keith
to show the same kind of leadership that I do for the entire staff. As a Director
everyone has expectations for him to lead that department, take initiative, and
produce. These are the same expectations that we each have for anyone in a
position of authority. I know he can do it. He just has to want to do it.
Rome did a great job at the August ACC show last month. He hosted the GIRAF table
with Adrian Daley from 4Deepstudio. Spider came later to the show and set up his
shop for Airgrafstudioneo after 12 but the mainstay came from Rome and Adrian.
Rome made a few local contacts as well as re-established an old contact with
Geoffrey Gwen from Alabama. There is another ACC show coming up November 15th.
Keith needs to get with Marques and see who works what shift that day to try
to help cover some of the hours for that show with Jerome. I don't mind them
doing separate shifts, one am one pm for a couple hours each, but Keith needs
to realize that Rome is going to start feeling abandoned by the group if he
doesn't take responsibility for being there at that show to get experience.
Moving on up Weezie!
I have been researching the new processes to getting back involved as a
Freelance journalist for covering arts/culture events in my state. It has
become a little more involved from the years in 1994 when I was active
reporting for OverExposure Magazine. Its a good idea to get re-credentialed
with all the news items hitting us involving arts, education, and community
lackluster with the current administration. I will continue to look into
that.
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| nearing relaxation! |
[20 Aug 2009|07:57pm] |
Feeling financially strapped but nearing relaxation!
Coming down to the wire these days. Only one more paycheck
before heading off to Florida for vacation. Its because of
this that I am not going to any of the days at DragonCon
this year. It costs $35 for a one day on Saturday and $25 for
Memorial Day. I need to spend that money on new sandals and
khaki shorts in my size for the trip. I hope to have the
rest of the money for the trip for food, souveniers, and
Seaworld. I know things cost a lot there( food, gifts, ie)
so I have to be prepared. I really appreciate my friends
going on the trip withbearing with my insane quirks. :)
Well I have completed the designs for Caitlyn and Kaley
for the Land of Never Never Where coloring & activity book.
Mckenzie and I have completed the story of their first
encounter with the NightMares & the Cavelry. I have to
adapt the beastie design to make it look more toy-like
and I can start drawing the pages. These should be easy
since they are simplified outlines for the most
part of my more detailed art style. I have also completed
the character design of T-13 for Aidan's comic book. I am
seriously thinking of putting T-13 into Neo-Kyoto the more
I look at things. The collected pages can then be put into
comic book format, digest naturally. They can then show
these to all their new school friends. This should make
things fun. I am still working on T-13's story
fleshing it all out based on what Aidan wanted to do
with her character but I feel that it could be a fun
anime based story.
I can't wait to see how this turns out too.
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| Day Looming Near! |
[14 Aug 2009|03:56pm] |
Day LoomIng Near...
I have just finished working on a few things off my GIRAF & HeroCentral
list this week. I only have three or four projects to complete before I
go on my first vacation in over a decade. I am not kidding. The last
time I went on an out of state vacation ( in my opinion what a vacation
is defined as is four or more consecutive days ) was in 1992 to
Disneyworld with my folks. Mind you I have been on a few weekend breaks
around the state of Georgia but, nothing that was compared to a proper
vacation. I have gotten in trouble at work for not taking time off. Its
a crazy world!
I'll be taking off the week of Labor Day, heading out to Florida. My
friend Bruce in Atlanta has invited me to tag along on his vacation
to Florida. So I said.."What the heck!"...and now I find myself heading
out for a well deserved vacation. I am hoping that the three hundred
bucks that I have saved up will be all that I need for the trip. Its
hard for me to bring anymore than that because I need to continue
saving for my trip with friends to Japan next year. Its gonna cost me
$2500.00 for hotel, flight, and food for a 3-4 day trip in Tokyo.
I guess that means I'll only be able to afford one day at an attraction
like Sea World or Busch Gardens. I am hoping that we go to Sea World
because I want to see the orcas ( I just did a Land of Zoa intro story
for DrunkDuck.com that introduces some of the underwater lifeforms ).
I won't have enough money for two or three attractions, lunch & dinner
for four days, and buy any souveniers. Bruce makes a bit more than I do
at his job, but I am sure he'll understand that I have to stay within
my budget. If he wants to go do something and I don't have the cash
then I'll just hang out on the beach and paint landscapes in water
color, :)- No problems there really, lol. Its gonna be fun even if we
don't do anything but hang out at the beach, lol. I went ahead and
email'd the resort to see if they had a continental breakfast, had a
parking fee, had wi-fi free at the hotel, and how much the cabanas are
to rent for the beach as I am unsure if we are bringing a beach
umbrella.
As far as What I have accomplished this week so far...I have plotted
out the last two segments of Kin of Rin Jin for Neo-Kyoto #9 & #10.
Those are the last two story segments for this arc. Issue #9 will have
a 22 page fight scene "showdown" between Haruman, Sakura, Xiang Shi,
Lucy, Kao Jun, Shikome Assassins, Emma-O and his battle ogre, Bakemano.
Its a fightfest on every page! Issue #10 concludes the story arc with
Haruman deciding if Kao Jun will join his dragonkin back in our world
or face divine punishment. Does he survive?....That would be telling
now wouldn't it, lol.
I have placed orders for the 100 solitude Flyers and 1000 Solitude
postcards for the Atlanta Comic Convention August 23rd over at the
Clairmont Road Marriott hotel. Keith and Rome are covering that show
11am-5pm on Sunday (8/23/09). I certainly hope that they have their
plans already set with their other jobs to cover this show. Rome is
helping me complete the Inventory of the studio ready to get the
box ready for the ACC show. I'll have to complete the burning of the
Next 13 CDRs as well as print up the new GIRAF Quarter Ads for the
freebie table. ka-Blam says that the flyer...I prefer Mini-Poster...
has shipped and should be arriving by this weekend. The postcards were
ordered Wednesday night and should arrive by Saturday afternoon UPS.
Yah. I will have that care package to send to Cayce ready for after
next week for Romey after all. I am thinking we can split the sales
of the mini-posters with cayce from the ACC show and give her 25 cents
per book sale with the mini-poster as well. I'll have to work out the
details from Promotion & Finance dapartment so it gets listed as
artist payment for her hard work with us. It will make Rome & Cayce
happy to continue the Solitude project. DangerZone #7 will be going to
print Sept 1st to Ka-Blam as well in full color!!!! with that cool
half of the poster cover ( DZ#8 is the other half the cool poster).
We are also going to put the full poster up available at Ka-Blam for
purchase too. Rome can work out the sales of such promotions with
Cayce on his own, prints, coffee mugs, etc. with the images to re-coup
some of the money for costs.
That really leaves me with only a few projects to complete for the
end of this month, The Never Never Where Coloring Book, DangerZone #7,
and Pencilling Land of Zoa #2. I have to have completed the Next 13 by
Wednesday 19th and burned by 8/22/09 evening. I'll have to work out
getting them to Rome that evening after I get back from my nieces
Artsapolooza event that afternoon at the Woodruff Arts Center. I'll
be there from 12-3pm then heading to dinner with my folks till 6pm.
Rome and I can work some plan out this Sunday when we work from 2p-5p.
I need to have Leslie check with Ka-Blam to see why 3 or 4 of the book
images aren't showing up still. Maybe we need to supply different art
samples to them. I am going to leave that to her while I try to find
a few more artists to tackle the next 3 or 4 N2Deep segments.
|
|
| Business Building Quickly... |
[03 Aug 2009|08:52pm] |
Business Building Quickly...
What a weekend. Busy takes on a whole new meaning when you are
trying to work in all the jobs, family, friends, and what eeks
out these days as a social life, lol. I did get a chance to
have lunch with NeoReveng this Saturday and still have dinner
with my grandparents the night before. So no major conflict
there but I fell asleep Sunday night after the GIRAF Staff
meeting which turned into a real workshop from 3pm-8pm. I am
glad that most everyone was able to attend and get a lot of
work done. I'll be able to finalize their efforts into the
completed projects this week. That meeting took a lot of me.
After dropping Leslie off at her home, I grabbed a bite to eat
around 9pm. I think eating that late with a few too many carbs
is what knocked me out. I know that I missed a few phones from
everyone, as my caller ID will tell. Sorry everyone. :)
As some of you may know, some may not however, my grandfather
on my father's side is dying of bone cancer. He only has a year
or so left in all reality. I am going to be spending more and
more time during the coming months with my grandparents. I just
wanted to mention that now because of something I said to another
friend of mine Bruce this saturday past. I told him of the
situation and that some might now understand down the road. He
assured me that all my close friends would be there for me and
really understand the situation when I might not be able to
come over, hang out, go to lunch, or take a phone call here or
there. I thanked him and felt better about a lot of things
going forward.
I am going to try this week to work on coloring the Land of Zoa:
Melting Point short story to put up on DrunkDuck.com as well as
a few other things like ... the next webcomic entries for
Torchwood: The Lesser of Two Weevils, Christian Knights: Holy Order,
and lettering for another webcomic by a new artist by the name
Apellido. I may not be able to show that work in my resume because
he does a bit more mature nature in his artwork. I promised to
help , so I will. I have to preface that since I am also working
on a children's coloring & activity book next month called
NeverNeverWhere and don't want to raise any hackles between the
two groups, lol.
|
|
| Blast from the Past... |
[23 Jul 2009|10:51am] |
LJ7_23 Blast from the past...
I have to say that drawing for someone else's projects
can be somewhat refreshing when you don't have a huge
deadline looming over you. I really enjoyed looking back
to my past love of monster movies and gothic television
serials. With modern filming techniques and digital over-
enhancements, its refreshing to look back at the basic
terror infused origins of the original monsters of movie
magic. They may be called "B" movies but they are grade
"A" entertainment. Bela Legosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney
...brilliant actors who portrayed their personas well in
the many characters they exuded. I drew the Mummy, Creature
of the Black Lagoon, and Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows
for submission on Jim Main's releases. I loved bringing
out that big black sharpie marker to fill in the areas of
the images that I drew. Noir is back in for many people,
especially conniseurs of Silver Screen celluloid.
Well I picked up both parts of NeoReveng's BDay present.
I also sent him an e-card today with a tiger on it. I hope
he enjoys that. He is a hard person to shop for when it
comes down to it. I didnt want to give him art supplies
this year, nor video game components. I also wanted him to
be able to use the gift many times. So I picked up on something
he said to me a couple of weeks ago about not having something
he wanted, but due to his living arrangements he wouldn't be
able to have it yet. So I hope this alleviates the problem for
the moment well with the present anyway, lol.I need to pick up
a cake tomorrow. I am hoping to have time to get it on the way
over to his apartment. He asked a bunch of the guys to head out
to dinner Friday night, either the Vortex downtown or Verde
down the street. I guess where we go depends on who all arrives
after 6:30pm at his place. I wonder if anyone has to work on
Saturday morning or if that will hamper anyone staying later
for cake. I'll need to get a cake large enough for ...let's
see how many people...Bruce, Marques, Jason, Jerome, Will,
and possible Keith if he can make it ....thats six people.
Okay, thatscool. Should be fun!
|
|
| Cool Beans |
[22 Jul 2009|07:38pm] |
I went all BBC-phile again. I watched the complete 5 hour special of
Torchwood in a day. It was the huge spring special of last year in Britain
showing the final episodes of the Torchwood series. I found out why
they opted for the Children of the Earth 5 day mini-series format.
This was the last season of Torchwood. Ianto Jones dies. Gwen and
Rhys became pregnant. Martha Jones is off on her honeymoon. Cap'n
Jack sacrifices his grandson to save the children of the human race
then leaves the planet. It turns out that an alien race referenced
as the 456 return to Earth with the intent on taking 10% of the
children of Earth for secret purposes. It was a wild ride!
The next thing I watched was the animated Dr WHO show called
The Infinite Quest. It was produced during the 3rd season with
David Tennant and Freema Agyeman with the villain Balthazar voiced
by Anthony Head. Its awesome to see the animated show being included
in the mainstream continuity of a series with live presentations.
What I find to be absolutely grand is the fact that this animated
work was completed in FLASH like the other designed for BBC website
episodes of Dr Who...Shada & Scream of the Shalka. This is a great
show!!! I want my House of Renquist series to look like that.
I fell asleep this afternoon at work, lol. I was so tired from staying
up till 10:40p last night then getting a late phone call ...I think it
was after 11:30. I thought it was the alarm company for work so thats
honestly why I scrambled out of bed, lol. Mind you, I am not upset with
the call, but I couldn't get back to sleep until around 1:30...so I was
wau-wau-wau-wauuuuu...up at five am, s*@t out of luck :)
I am cool with it all, just tired. I went to take a nap in my car at
12:30 today to capture some of those roaming Z's. I recouped a few but
not enough.
|
|
| Gemini Option! |
[21 Jul 2009|07:37pm] |
I have to warn everyone that there will be two groups making
comments for the next moments of infinity about this film.
There will be the purist fans of the books who will revile
the film because of their lack of concern on what important
details that they left out culminating in a lack luster
production that was destined to fail.
Then there will be the movie based fans who are blindly
obsessive about the JK Rowling series on the silver screen
who have never picked up a copy of the book upon which the
film is based. To them ignorance is bliss as they are just
seeking entertainment.
I, personally, am of two minds on the film. I realize that
the film is "based" on the book. It is NOT a re-enactment of
what occurred in the book. From that standpoint, I have to say
that it was a better film than Goblet of Fire, but not as good
as Order of the Phoenix. It excelled in showing the development
of the characters better than Chamber of Secrets, but it
failed in its explanations to climactic point than Prisoner
of Azkaban. It was a good film with cool special effects. From
that standpoint I would rate it a 3 out of 5.
Now from the other half of my brain where the literary
purist resides I have to say that I hated how they raped the
story to produce the film that is currently out today. I am
unsure if they actually understood JK's progression of the
story with its necessary elements of devlopment through Harry's
introduction to apportation with Professor Dumbledore or the
need to see the Tonks appear on the train to rescue Harry from
being left behind after Malfoy's retribution. From that standpoint
I would rate the film a 2 out of 5.
Rather than try to sit here and describe what I liked about
what was left in the film, I am going to bring up swaths of
material that was vital to the story yet cut out and sewn
together like Frankenstein's monster to try to bring life to
this film, LOL.
- We don't see Prof Dumbeldore confront the Dursley's while
taking Harry Potter to meet Slughorn.
- We don't get to see the Muggle Prime Minister meet the new
Minister of Magic after Fudge's removal.
- At the burrow, we miss the new Minister try to recruit Harry
for the Ministry's needs as " The Chosen One" PR movement
- We don't see the Slughorn party on the Hogwart's train
"collecting his students" or Jenny's introduction into the
story thread with her boy trouble.
- At Diagon Alley we miss the fact that Harry's winnings from
the Tri-Wizard Championship paid for the Weasley's joke shop
- We miss at the burrow that Fleur DelaCour and Bill Weasley
are engaged as well as how Molly is driven crazy by "Phlegm"
- We miss that Bill is attacked by Fenrir causing his "touch
of the wild" scar
- We don't see Tonk's new patronus when Harry's arrives late
from the train
- We don't see the rest of Dumbledore's Army get to partake of
any of the Liquid Luck draught in order to help with
fighting Belatrix Lestrange and company storm Hogwart's
from the vanishing cabinet
- We don't see Prof Snape trying to get a hold of Potter's
Potions Book at all throughout the film
- we aren't given any clues as to the investigation of the
identity of the " Half-Blood Prince" through his time at
Hogwart's
- we are given an anti-climactic view of Snape's recognition
of his own spells and secret identity as the Half Blood
Prince
In conclusion, I will say that this film is entertaining if
not mildly annoying to die hard fans of the series. It has its
moments but they are outweighed by what is not there from the
book to support them. It only gets a 2.5 from me overall on
the rating scale. Not very good in the scheme of things but
if thats all we get on the adaptation then ...well, okay.
On another note, I received an email from Jim Main, a fellow
UFO Co-Oper interested in getting some artwork and articles for
his various horror magazines. So I decided to start by giving
him a copy of a couple of my horror sketches to print. I did one
of Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows, one of The Creature from
the Black Lagoon, and one of Boris Karloff as the Mummy. I hope
these help get him some more stock material. I did think of doing
a humor strip with Legosi as Dracula meeting Frid as Barnabas Collins
where the joke is..." I know you came first but at least I
don't sound like a hispanic Disc Jockey." LOLL.
|
|
| LJ7_20 Better Understanding |
[20 Jul 2009|08:29pm] |
Better Understanding
Well I want to thank everyone who called me last night and talked me
through a few things. Thanks NeoReveng, Jingai, and Spider. It did
help me get a better understanding that maybe my empathic nature is
in fact growing these days. I wasn't prepared for that over the last few weeks. I think the trigger was the seven cases of heart related issues
for myself and the six people that are within steps of me. Coupled with
the massive amount of emotional energy from the loss of nine celebrities
in the media, I know that I wasn't prepared for all that feedback. So
my mental exercises weren't enough to cope with all that. I had to
meditate through a lot this weekend past. All that made me irritable
and not fun to be around. So once again I apologize for all that flack
that you guys & gals got from me. Now that I know what I have to do to prepare, I can work on that at night when I meditate. I know...I know...
I am so metaphysical sometimes :) and as for Spider, I'll just say..
Algebra homework...not fun at 9:30 on a Sunday night! Big no-no. Start earlier!, LOL.
On to GIRAF, well lets start with N2Deep webcomic. I have completed
the coloring on the 4th page of Adrian's submissions. The previous pages
are already lined up to be posted this week and next. I have to complete
the lettering on the last page of Jeon Alford's 4 page, Which look
awesome if I may add! Those will take us through the next month. I am
hoping that Spider can get his internet artist buddies, D...Tomcat...
IG-88, uhm I mean Steve...to take the reigns over the next few months.
I have already asked Chris Chamberlain to tackle a set and he is looking
for the one he wants to do. It progresses well!
We have received the printing invoices for HeroCentral Universe #0 and Neo-Kyoto #9 from Ka-blam. The will be shipped out June 24th. YAH!!!These
issues feature the debut of inking intern Verona Oliver Rutherfurd and the
next awesome cover art by yours truly for Wyld Hares by Olivia Townshend.
These two books will be released in August. They will be followed by the
release of DangerZone#7 and H2Club:Innovations in September. Next #13 will
also be out in August under its new Flash-based format. Land of Zoa #2 of 5
will be released in September as well under the UFO format. There will be
a couple of mini-stories from the different aspects of HeroCentral Universe
that everyone can see online before being printed at www.DrunkDuck.com for
free. These mini stories will back up the main serial of the same name. That
was the only way I could get people to head back to the printed books...
by giving them freebie stuff online. Go Marketing!
I have printed the Motion Artist 4.0 manual. Now I can learn how to use
this program to complete the framework of the Next... I know that I have
the static version of the background chosen. It looks good. I need to be
able to complete a navigable main screen and interactive loading shell.
This will lead to a more html-like website. This is a learnign version
and undoubtedly will be changed with new GIRAF images for backgrounds
as well as embedded MP3's or Quicktime film tutorials. All these things
are possible for the upcoming Digital magazine. I am even considering
an Audio Host introduction like we use on the Brain Freeze Report...theme
music intro to a speaking host welcoming the viewer. ALl kinds of things
are possible. Lizzy_S suggested doing a short Radio show or Video show
called Funky Crust for the multi-media release. It will definitely hold
our audio ad spots from GIRAF and 4 DeepStudio. More work to require me to
be full time at this job for GIRAF instead of where I am working now.
A note on my little niece's efforts to be creatively involved these days.
My niece McKenzie Rogers has written a story that she wants to convert
into a coloring book. The story is well thought out for a six year old.
I have added a few things to help her make it feasible. So I will be
drawing the prototype coloring and activity book for her. She is calling
it Beasties of NeverNeverWhere. I am going to get the necessary copyright paperwork together for her to get that copyrighted. Its a good idea and has market appeal for future development. She also just recently went to Zoo Atlanta and wanted to do a review/interview of her day at the zoo. That will be seen in the August edition of the freezine HC CultureShock on livejournal and Facebook. It seems that she is wanting to follow in her uncle's footsteps of storytelling, lol.
Well I have dialogued out Jeon Alford's four pages with the origin of
the N2Deep misfit Xeno. I would definitely hate to dream that I was
flying but then to be buck naked on top of that with media cameras
recording it all. I wrote that segment with a few nightmares realized
for the public to "feel" for our teen hero, lol. I will letter those
pages after I complete the Rare Drop Radio Business banner for the
Gryphon pages. Thats all I have left to create for the first photo based
installment of that full color series. There is always more to do when
you aren't looking for it.
|
|
| Thoughts Gone Astray |
[17 Jul 2009|08:22pm] |
Thoughts gone astray.....
Well what can I say. I didnt have to justify what I was doing Saturday
to my friend, as I stated to him doing "stuff". But then to me it came across
like I was committing some dubious act of illegal or illicit actitivity
by not revealing it. I know it has nothing to do with any of that but
I was worried that it may be construed as such by my friend. All I am
doing is doing some personal cleansing, and working on DangerZone #7 then
going on time early to my cousin's 10 wedding anniversary at 4pm
instead of the later time 5:30 that I had to tell my cousin after the
invitation because of the request from my friend to attend an event earlier
in the afternoon. Its not like I was going to see Harry Potter or on a date
with someone, LOL. Guilt is a powerful weapon I have found. Well its powerful
against people who have a code of honor and a conscience, lol. In the hands
of a master manipulator it is devestating. I think that it is working on
me because of my family's recent months of plight with health issues and
letting my friends in a little too close these days as I seek solace from
the stress. I just want to learn to say no to people without burning bridges
and that is the hardest thing to do it seems.
Another friend of mine is deciding whether to accept a job far away from
where he currently resides but will have to deal with the long commute or
try to move in with a roommate on that side of town. I was informed that
what I thought was the reason for another friend moving this week into a
larger apartment on that side of town was in fact incorrect. The mutual
friend's current roommate doesn't want another roommate but the third
bedroom would in fact be for "extra room". I am still wondering if that
guy in fact ever got a job to pay for his part of this new apartment. If so,
great! If not, then I fear for my mutual friend because of the costs that
will incur thus ultimately they will need another roommate and then the
opportunity will be too late for my first friend to accept the new job
ultimately causing him more pain than at the moment over all this. Crappy
situation if you ask me...crappy all around.
A friend of mine from Athens commented on the freezine HC CultureShock that
I am working on each month as a therapeutic release as not being visually
stimulating enough for everyone else. Albeit that is the case, its not the
reason that I am doing the freezine in the first place. The copyleft freezine
is simply a way for me to make more opportunities to go and do things with
my friends so I don't feel that I have inundated my life with an overload
of work all the time. I am not interested in putting in the time it would
require to add fancy backgrounds, images of places, promotional stuff other
than links to the sites. I opened the site up to other people's comments
because I wanted to get their experiences, reviews, and overall comments.
I didn't create it to build a huge competitive community. Its not some
grass roots movement either. I just wanted all to understand that. Its cheaper thanmental therapy for me, lol.( Don't worry...I will add links back to the
sites and locales that we review, :) )
Well I just ordered the first special item for me with my money outside the
budget this month. I have wanted it for a while and now I have purchased it.
It will be delivered by Tuesday 21st. If my mailman runs as usual, it will
be in my mailbox Tuesday evening when I get home from work. What is it you
might ask? Well my Who-vian friends...I have ordered the animated special
of Dr. WHo ( with "Mar-fa J-O-nes") The Infinite Quest. Not only is it a
story held in the continuity of the 10th Doctor by the BBC but its done in
FLASH. Thats so cool! I hope to do my own story House of Renquist like this
animated work. I can't wait to see that next week....Weeeeeee*Giddy*falls
down laughing* ( well it worked for Emperor Nero...:)
Well I shouldn't write this here but I have no idea what to get Neoreveng
for his birthday next week. Its on Thursday 7/23. I know we are all planning
on getting together next night for dinner after he gets off work, but what
to get the video-game freak....hmmmmm....don't know. Maybe it will hit me, lol.
There are too many things to get back into this weekend as far as
GIRAFNetwork and HeroCentral, but I do need to put things into perspective.
I want to start working on adding webcomic mini-shorts for HeroCentral on
to the www.Drunkduck.com hosting site and I already have planned to start
with posting LOZ: Melting Point up there after I get it colored and lettered
this weekend. I figure that I will be able to upload weekly to that site
and be able to keep up with all my other projects monthly.I do need to go by
Hobby Lobby today and check for PrismaColor pencils for skin tones. I need
those to finish working on Adrian Daley's N2Deep pages to post today and next
week.Yet another thing to complete by the weekend.
|
|
| A moment of reflecttion |
[16 Jul 2009|12:38pm] |
LJ 7_16
A moment of reflection
I have come to the realization today that I am the one who is ultimately
responsible for the problems with me getting in way over my head with
too much to do each weekend. Between friends, work, GIRAF, and internet,
I seem to jam way too many things that "need" to be done to assuage all
the people that I come in contact with. I need to be able to say "no" to
these people when I am feeling overwhelmed. I just don't. I think that
problem is contributing to my feelings of being burnt out these past
few weeks. I don't want to hurt anyone's personal feelings over all this
either. Depsite my large size, I can't be everywhere for everyone, :)
I just wanted to tell all my friends and family that bit of insight. So
if you ask me for something or to go somewhere with you, I can't just
automatically go do it. If you find me making excuses they are probably
just that....excuses so I don't have to say the word "no" to anyone close
to me. This is no way a reflection of me choosing one friend over another
or one family member over another when I am out "seen" with them. Its
just I have to trim back all the things I agree to do over the next
couple of months until I take my vacation in September. Thanks everyone.
******************************************************
As far as work, I am completing the lettering on a six page Land of Zoa
furry short that I plan to put up on www.drunkduck.com next week. I also
want to have the United Fanzine Organization print it in their UFO Sampler
for this summer's convention in Chicago. Nic Carcieri, the co-op's chairman
is doing a great job keeping the group active and alive. I need to update
my current list of members so I can send out the second issue of Land of
Zoa in August to everyone. In the meantime, I'll be mailing out to all at
the UFO issue #0 of my new line called Hero Central Universe. It features
a glimpse into the new storylines I have set in motion for the characters
in my personal universe of storytelling. It also debut's the inking skills
of Verona Oliver Rutherfurd, a detail oriented artist out of Sugar Hill
Georgia. That book is coming back from the printers , Ka-Blam, on July 24th.
Well that's what they said, lol. I hope everyone enjoys that release.
Its very noir!!!!
******************************************************
|
|
| thanks everyone! |
[08 Jul 2009|07:16pm] |
I wanted to thank everyone again for their positive thoughts with the
emergency of my mom yesterday having a heart cath. She is doing fine
at home, resting per doctor's orders. I also found out that Bochi's mom was having minor heart surgery today. My positive thoughts go out
to him in spades.
I am planning on taking a few days off and head to Florida after
Labor Day in September to take into account of where my life is
really going these days. I find that I am burning out faster and faster on achieving my dreams. It begins to hurt in my heart some nights when I find that all I have are aspirations on the cusp of success. Its a decision that I have had to make for the last few years. I am not giving up on achieving what I have wrought, mind you. Its just I need a break from everything and its about time that I do it soon...before I break. Maybe I'll just stay in Florida for a couple of days that week. It just costs a lot of money though down there. One ticket to Seaworld alone is $75. Thats more than a season pass to SixFlags including the Water park! That is really way too much for one day's event, not including food or drink in the park, that no doubt will be overpriced. I just want some beach time, drawing time, and a few good meals ( heck I could eat at Red Lobster 3 times for that amount of money) , and just maybe meet some new friends down there.:) Oh well that will happen soon enough...
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