Rube Goldberg

Okay, so I'm a sucker for those Rube Goldberg-style contraptions. Remember that part in The Goonies where they have this whole process set up to open a 5' tall gate door? Well, this music video was pretty amazing, and judging by the paint stains on their suits, they had to do several takes, which means they had to set everything back up again. Amazing. I think this outdoes their treadmill dance video. I never attempted anything like it, but I do remember making little dioramas in shoeboxes.

Nicole's birthday is a little over a week, and I'm still trying to think of an idea to surprise her with. She, unfortunately, is an over-planner, and has kind of already planned out what we're doing for her birthday, so I have to come up with something she hasn't thought of yet. Any ideas?

An epiphany of sorts

Today I was cut from work early (we've been slow at the restaurant since school started), so I decided to spend the hour or two waiting for my wife to get off work by reading somewhere. Usually I browse at Barnes & Noble for a few hours, but lately I've been feeling guilty shuffling up and down their corridors of books, only there to kill time.

The past few days I've been able to get out of work early enough that I can sit on the beach (it's about five minutes from work) and read until sundown. If I get tired of reading, I can put the book down and cloudwatch. Today, however, I wanted to read somewhere new. I drove to Shelter Cove (where Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort is located) and sat on the grassy embankment of the inlet there. It was very quiet, and I was able to park in a remote lot (it said "Executive Parking" but I figured it was okay as there was no one there).
I've been living near and working on Hilton Head Island for over a year now. And until this week, I never really appreciated the island. Most people probably consider if you live on or close to an island, the beach is just part of your day. And for at least some of my coworkers, that's true. But not for me. I live only 15-20 minutes from a public beach, and yet in a year I've visited it less than ten times. The beach itself is not on my way to work. I have to dress up nicely for work and I live half an hour away, so I don't go to the beach prior to my shift. And I don't go afterwards because by that point it's too dark. And I don't go on my days off because, well, I drive to the island six days a week, and the last thing I want to do on my day off is drive back to it. But I've been able to appreciate Hilton Head this last week. I was able to watch the sun set and listen to the tide rush to the shore. To see the waves of sand glide along the beach in the wind. To witness the seagulls scan the shore for food from tourists. And, funny enough, it finally occurred to me how lucky I was. How lucky that I'm able to walk barefoot in my work clothes in the sand and witness beauty. How often does one get to do that? I live in an extraordinary time in an extraordinary place, and I thank God that I can do that every day.

The above paragraph sounds a little hokey when read aloud to myself, but I really did feel that way, and maybe you all can get something out of it. I spent a whole year paying attention to only what's along the way to work: gas stations, chain restaurants, a failing mall, annoying tourist shops. But when I went off the beaten path, took a wrong turn, and decided "What the hey? I'll check this place out," I discovered why people choose to live here.

Now do I want to live in Hilton Head for the rest of my life? No. I want to be in a college town. I want to be around arts and the liberal sciences. I want to walk in coffee shops with people talking about the latest music or debating philosophy. I want to go to shows in dank studios, and be able to choose between having a paella or Chicago-style pizza (instead of burgers or subs). My place is not here in HH, but now I get it. I understand why people choose to live here.

Drawing I did of this creepy girl you meet in Ocarina of Time. She's not as weird looking in the game as she is here, but I still remember her freaking me out. If you want to see what I'm talking about, check out the video here at 2:46.

New post, every day. For Two Weeks.

Well, I spent the last hour writing up a new post, but for some reason Gmail had logged me out at some point, so my whole post was lost. So instead of typing it all up again, I'm going to give you the short version.

- I realize my blog is lacking in content and so I will be posting once a day for the next two weeks about a new experience; a new song, a new movie, something I learned, etc. It has to be unknown to me prior to the day I post about it.

- Today I saw Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World in Savannah

- My critique: A fun movie. Awesome battle scenes. Memorable lines. Still a little dizzy from all the quick cutting that is frequent in Edgar Wright movies, but that could just be a personal thing. Could've been a little bit more condensed. Enjoyed for the most part, but felt like they Hollywooded the ending, and went with the obvious. I heard it ends differently in the graphic novel, but have to say I enjoyed the movie a lot more than the comic. Michael Cera seems to be one of those actors you love or hate, but I'm drifting into the grey zone. Almost all the ex-boyfriends were hilarious.

- It's three in the morning, and I'm still up. Curse you Crush Grape soda!

Also, I'm still posting art today, but it's . . . how shall I say -- risqué? So if you're viewing this at work or are just checking to see what your grandson learned in art school, be warned. There is a butt in the link.

Wonder Woman just chilling

. . .

Nothing to say, except to drop off some Wonder Woman sketches.


. . . and a bored Zoey and Milly.

Wonder Woman and Disney

The Disney trip is only months away! We're somewhere in the 40-50% range in saving up for the trip! And we're purchasing our tickets this month. If I had more time off, I'd go see Inception, but alas, I had the opportunity to hang out with one of my co-workers and his family to see Despicable Me.

My parents visited last week, and so we were treated to dinner, and in return we took them to this amazing place that serves fresh, custom doughnuts on the island.
Aside from all this, not much to report. We're losing one of the hostesses, but training two more. So hopefully me and Nicole will have some free time together soon. Nicole's been superbusy training, doing admin work, pulling longer shifts, etc. to get her vacation pay. I've just been trying to stimulate myself inbetween work, sleep and finding a good time to eat.

I haven't posted for a while because I always to leave new artwork, and I have to be honest; I didn't draw much this month. Finally I popped a good Wonder Woman drawing and had the time to color it. The drawing took maybe 2-3 hrs to draw because I had no reference and kept changing her outfit and hands. Coloring usually takes me 1-3 hrs, depending on my mood. I've found that I really enjoy coloring, and I hope I can learn some better techniques.

Anyway, here ya go.

Disney & things

Not much to say except we're a quarter of the way to finishing our Disney Fund! Life is good, I'm still waiting for our hospital bill to come, we have a friend visiting this week for a few days. Been doing research on classics and world history. Thinking about maybe doing an ongoing history webcomic or something. Don't know how I could ever top or even get to the level of Kate Beaton.

Here's a Metal Gear Solid fanart for ya guys.

Back from NC

Man, has it really been a month since I last posted?

Well, the big news is that we spent a week with my parents in NC. We attended a traveling Broadway showing of Wicked, which blew Dad away. Mom and my sister Kelli thought it was too long for their attention spans, so I guess you can't please everyone. Nikki thought the actress playing G(a)linda was better than the one we saw in New York. I visited high school friends, and in the process lost my voice that week. Got to see both "Date Night" and "Kick Ass." Tina Fey and Steve Carrel's movie was cute and definitely had its moments, but I was surprised by how much I liked "Kick Ass." Now I'm going to have to read the trade. Oh, and I did see "Iron Man 2," which of course was awesome, but not as much as the first. It was good to see everyone and eat lots of good food, but now we're back and need money. We're trying to pay off my hospital bills (over $1000 for a doctor to rub on some antiseptic and start stapling away on my head), save on food costs, and *drum roll please* save up for a trip to Disney World! WHOOOOO!! We plan on going the first or second week of December. It'll be between the fall and the Christmas crowds, but still close enough to Christmas as they'll have the lights up. Also, Nikki's excited that they're going to bring back Captain EO. We're also going to spend a day at Islands of Adventure to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Let's see . . . I've been learning some Italian in the meantime, as well as trying to read, understand, and appreciate the literature classics again. Nikki bought a DVD shelf so we can move our movies out of the bookshelf to make room for all the graphic novels we now own. One of the few friends we have left in Savannah is leaving, but we're trying to hang out more with our coworkers.A very androgynous Elphaba with some TF2 characters. Note the drawings on the back side of the sketchbook bleeding through. What can I say? I don't like to waste paper.

Did some anatomy drawings while watching Blade Runner. One thing led to another.

Did a colored piece of Dead or Alive 2, a very cheesecake-y fighter game I used to own.