Official Plug

Happy Friday.

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm glad the weekend is but a few short hours away. The whole "working" thing this week has been less than stellar. At least I'll have a good day tomorrow, I hope.

Anyway, I really just wanted to take time today to plug the amazing artist that was kind enough to guest art the current We've Got Brains. Her name is Christina Smith--no relation--and she is nothing short of mind-blowing. Currently you can find her art portfolio and ask for and commission a piece of art from her at her site 5sizes2small.com. She also has a webcomic, Not So Small After All, that chronicles her life/transition to living in France. Again, I can't sing her praises enough, and you would do well to spend some time poking around her sites.

That's about all for the moment. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

An Eternity

I don't even feel like I should be writing here, as if this site has been taken over by my doodles. Though I doubt I could keep a Mon.-Fri. schedule, otherwise I would never get anything done--and things are bad enough in that department as it is.

Anyway, as for my week away, I had a pretty good time. Got to hang out with a good friend of mine, spend an hour or two with a "long-lost" friend, make some new friends, get some ideas, and see a crappy film. (Seriously, don't see Blindness if you want anything with some substance to it.)

I hope you've enjoyed the last few comics. Some of them are doodles of years past, but I couldn't help but use them anyway. I figure if I've got the material--even if it is long dated--I should do something with it. There will probably be another robot week coming up in the next week or two. Plus, I'm going to try and mix up my more recent art with my oldies and goldies. Maybe that will keep things fresh--though I do like the idea of showing my art progression over the years. Whatever, though. Either way, there will be new comics.

If you haven't noticed, I missed We've Got Brains last week. There will be a guest one posted later today, which I'm both excited and bummed about. I'm excited because she, 5sizes2small, has done a glorious job. (You can find her personal webcomic here.) But I'm bummed because I just don't have time for this comic anymore. SO, unless you want to offer your art services to my comic for weekly updates, We've Got Brains is taking a hiatus after today. I'm sorry. It's a horrible place to stop, I know, but I have too much on my plate at the moment.

Yeah, big things have happened this last week. New changes, more Gibberish, and I'm no closer to finishing my latest packet for school. Speaking of...

Self Time

Last night I finally got around to watching Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, not only a film I've been wanting to see since its initial release, but also one I've had from Netflix for two full months. I must say, I was impressed. It has a few bugs, but overall I really enjoyed Clooney's direction. He might make an interesting director once he shrugs off the whole "actor" thing--though if his performance in Burn After Reading is any indication, he'll be around for awhile longer.

I, like most other busy-bodies, often forget about the importance of taking a night off and not really doing much--though I still got a new We've Got Brains up, washed the dishes, and made ready for the electrician's arrival today. Overall, it was a good night. Just in general, this week has been going well. Found a friend's blog that let me know she is still alive, met with some friends from the MFA, and pooted around the house last night. Weird how the little things can make a week just work, you know?

And if you're anything like me, you probably need a distraction from all this money/stock market/recession talk. So go check out my comics, either here or at Filmmedium, and have a laugh.

Almost Forgot to Do This...

And I even have things to talk about. Basically my life has been one impressed adventure after the next. Well, really only two things, but that was enough to spawn this.

First, if you own an XBOX 360 and have access to the internet, there is no reason for you not to own the amazing game Braid. Truly, anyone looking for a stunning platformer or puzzle game need look no further. I discovered the thing while reading about the amount of people complaining that its $15.00 price tag was too much. Believe me, it is worth every penny. I've spent WAY more on games not near as good. Do yourselves a favor and play something that is actually worth your time.

The other is a book. How Fiction Works by James Wood is, by and large, the best book on writing I've ever read. It's such a down to earth approach that anyone, writer or not, will appreciate his dissection of the craft of writing. Though I love my teachers, I feel like I've learned more from this one book than from any of them. (Sorry, guys.) If you have any interest in fiction, you should read this book.

With that, I've got just about everything covered. More Gibberish tomorrow. New We've Got Brains. Have a wonderful evening.

The Aforementioned Little Things

When life allows you to find such things as this, you'd be a terrible puppy-killing person if you did not pass them on. So here, I hope it amuses you even half as much as it did me.

Also, a new We've Got Brains is up. More Gibberish tomorrow.

Drilled Teeth = Burning Cheetos

Every time I get a filling or work done on my grinders, I'm always disturbed by the smell of burning Cheetos eminating from my mouth. I like Cheetos, and grinding teeth and Cheetos is not a connection I would like to make. Makes me wonder what other peoples teeth taste like. Must be nice to by a cyclops, or some other man-eating monster.

I bring this up because I now have a plastic temporary crown in my mouth. They told me that if it pops off, I can remedy the situation temporarily by rubbing Vaseline on the inside, then stuffing it back over my original tooth's remains. Who knew Vaseline was so versatile?

At least I'm more on top of things this week. Gibberish will drop at Midnight. Same goes for Thursday. There is even a possibility of a bonus comic this week, since I'm so on top of things. Plus, I may end up with a guest artist for either Gibberish or We've Got Brains. You can find her work here. And if any of the rest of you are interested in providing artwork for either of my comics, just contact me: clicktrackheartblog(at)gmail(dot)com, and I'll see what we can do.

Oh, and I saw Animation Show vol. 4. Very much worth your time. Mayhap I'll get a review up for it this week, but the way things have gone, I doubt it. *sigh* Apparently I need to start taking speed to get everything done in my 24-hour days.

Still Catching Up

It was late, yes, but Gibberish was done yesterday. And as some of you might already have seen, We've Got Brains is late, but it is on the way. I assure you. Regardless, tomorrow's Gibberish will drop around midnight--as long as the whole "scheduled post" thing works. It's the best one yet.

As for regular life, still trying to get the house in order, get caught up on all my work fun and restart mark work on both my critical essay and novel. Now, more than ever, I want to get my novel finished, out of my head, and into the world. So close...

I also had some mighty weird dreams last night, combining tornados and stylish clubs based on obscure video games that are really closer to Country Bear Jamboree than a swank place. I'm rather haunted by this bizzare dream--mostly because of its vividity and how well it seems to have planted itself into my noggin.

Have any dreams like this? I'd love to hear about someone else's subconscious for a change.

Moving Disrupts Everything--It Even Ruins Holidays

My internet is shoddy. My house is a wreck. And now that we're in the new place I just--right before this--changed my address. Ah, the joys of forgetting every little nook and cranny of moving.

Luckily, I had some time to check out a film today. Watched me some Death Race, and surprisingly enough, it wasn't nearly as terrible as I'd thought it would be. I may even review it. In the meantime though, I have a few more things I'd like to get done around the house, and because of this, Gibberish will be around tomorrow but probably not until the evening. Same will go for Wednesday's We've Got Brains.

And now...

...off to the basement.

It Feels Weird

It's been so long since I've actually had to stop and think about what I'm going to write for this thing. In the end, I came up with not much.

I traveled to and from Colorado, an uneventful venture that involved eating, playing Scrabble, watching The Rocker, and making a program for my grandmother's memorial.

Now that I'm back, I'm on the move--ha! Lots of boxes, lots of lifting and hauling, basically lots of stupid.

During this lot though, I posted a Moving comic at We've Got Brains, and there will be another Gibberish tomorrow.

And just as a quick F.Y.I., there is a good chance that Gibberish will be relocated to an actual webcomic hosting site. You know, so it's actually easier to navigate, explore, and be amazed by my random comic fun. Then all of you who come here just for the comics can go elsewhere and not have to deal with these kind of pointless rants of information.

An Early Animation

So this is an early animation that I made a few years back for an undergrad animation class. I'm hoping that once I purchase me a copy of Toon Boom's new Studio 4.5, I'll be able to make better quality nonsense--I've already got my first animation all plotted out.

One of these days I might add a soundtrack, but don't count on it. If anything, I've still got all my original artwork, so maybe I'll scan it all and put it together with Toon Boom, then it will be brighter and better and with sound.

In the meantime though, there is a new We've Got Brains, which heralds the return of tablet art and continues the random storyline I've got going.

More Gibberish tomorrow, and possibly bonus Gibberish on Friday and Monday, since it looks like I will be in Colorado this weekend. Until next time.

Freaking Excited!!!

Good week, good people!!!

If you're wondering why I have this sudden affinity for exclamation marks, it is because I have just ordered my Wacom Bamboo tablet. WOOT! Seriously, I'm way excited, since I thought that I wouldn't be able to order one until the end of the month. Luckily that date got bumped up since my eBay auctions went so well it was stupid, and I should have one in my grubby paws by Saturday. Plus, I'm halfway to affording Toon Boom on top of procuring my tablet. Animation here I come.

In the meantime though, since I realize that I have more than a few new projects, as pointed out by my good friend, I'm going to be making some personal distraction cuts. First and foremost, Scramble will no longer be the vice of my times. I'm calling it off--at least the live games. I'm not sure what else is going to take the hit just yet. Possibly this blog, mayhap my film reviews, but I think that both We've Got Brains and Gibberish will stay intact. (Honestly, the whole reason I started this blog was to get a bit of buzz for the upcoming site, which is now on hiatus. So, Gibberish will be my compensation.)

Anyway, I've found out that there should be a review up for Swing Vote sometime soon, and I should be putting one together for Pineapple Express later today. No promises on either of them though, I really need to start working on my critical paper.

Speaking of, I'm off...

Stretchin' Like Caramello

It's come to my attention that I'm taking on quite the number of projects and probably stretching myself a bit thin. Between my newly instated Gibberish, We've Got Brains, my plans for Milos and Click-Track Heart, and all of my master's degree work--and that's not including my day job and actually spending time with my wife--I don't have much wiggle room. (I'm going to be in trouble when I have kids.) Things should be okay though, as long as I slow down and focus on one thing at a time. Plus, with a bit of help from my friends, reviews for films like The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor will still get done, without wasting my time. It's a thin plan, I know, but it should work. I hope. Otherwise I'll just have to be like the woman I saw this morning on my way to work.

As she was walking her dog, she was picking up the random trash and litter that was scattered around the sidewalk. And I could see that this wasn't her trash either, she was just being a good person. I couldn't help but think that this woman had it right, taking something she would be doing anyway--walking her dog--and turning it into something better for everyone.

*sigh*

It would be nice to be that selfless.