I'm done. I'm screwed.
I can't return to school next year unless I can pay off the tuition I currently owe- about $4500.00, if I can't return to school, I'll have wasted the last three years of my life putting myself in debt. I have one way out, and it's unattainable. I really honestly don't know what to do.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Adventuresome, Tumblr, and why I haven't been here
Hello all 3 of you (tops) who read my blog. I should explain myself.
I have disappeared because I've started a webcomic (finally) that I've actually been updating on a regular basis. I've had a few false starts on webcomics in the past, and this time I'm determined to stick to it. I've also been getting favourable responses, so that's helping. Mind you, 99% of the people reading my comics are my friends, and would likely not tell me if my comics sucked, so I should take that for what it is. When I get around to doing some real promotion (not until I hit 30 strips, as some wise webcomic authors have suggested) then hopefully I'll start to get some feedback from people who don't know me directly. Whether it's people emailing me with things like "hay faggit, ur comic sucks lol. go back to idiot school" or just staring for hours at a Google Analytics screen and wondering what the fuck a 'bounce rate' is (I know what a bounce rate is...now). I'm taking some advice from the people who do Webcomics Weekly, and I'm not getting too ahead of myself before I've established some kind of nest for myself. That is, I'm not thinking about t-shirts, or conventions, or books or any of that crap, I'm just focusing on the comic, and as a sidebar, getting people to read the comic. Of course, the best way to do that is to make a good comic, so I'll try. I'll probably look back on the comics I'm doing right now in a year or two and cringe, but we'll have to see. It's like those wise webcomickers said - we have the unique opportunity of practising and improving while also presenting it to an audience. We can get real-time critique as our art and writing develops, which is something that was unavailable back in the days when in order for your work to ever be seen it had to be syndicated. My short term goal is to put out 100 comics in the first year. That is, hit comic #100 by January 2nd 2012. I'm sure that I'll miss an update or two, I'm human, and I need to work and go to school and to actually have ideas and stuff, but I'm going to try. 100 comics in a year, that actually sounds crazy and undoable now that I see it written out. Then again, I'm at 20 now, so we'll see.
As more of a record for myself, here is my current plan:
Comic 30 - apply for Project Wonderful to put a couple of ads on my site. This will (maybe, hopefully) earn be a couple of bucks, but most likely earn me nothing and put my name out there for advertisers to notice.
Comic 45 or 50 - put out my own ads. The reason I don't want to do it before this is a) monetary b) so that I can prove to myself that I can go half of the year without a lot of outside encouragement and still want to do this and c) I'd like to have a really nice backlog in case people like my comic enough to spend some time reading it.
Comic ~75 - At this point I'll probably start to expand the way that I'm telling people about the comic. I'm not going to start listing it on those "webcomics top 100 list" sites, because let's be honest- who cares? I used to go to those sites when I was 11 and the comics it had me reading were usually pretty crappy. When I say I'll expand, I mean message boards that I frequent, talking to people I know who run blogs and stuff, it's not gonna be anything major, I'm not looking to become Scott Kurtz 3/4 of a year into my strip, but I want to sort of get used to talking about my comic.
Comic 100 - Celebrate, then realize it's an arbitrary number and get working on comic #101.
That's basically that. How much of this is going to go according to plan? Who knows, maybe this time next year I'll have a few more readers than I do now, maybe I won't. I'm not gonna agonize over it so early into my comic. I'm doing this because I love doing it, and there's nothing I'd rather do than draw comics for the rest of my life.
Speaking of my life, I need an internship, and a job ... FAST.
All that being said - I probably won't be updating here often. I've started a tumblr (HERE) and my comic is located at www.adventuresome.ca. I'm not gonna take this blog down, because I'm sure I'll want it again sometime, but for the time being, that's where you will find all of the garbage that spills out of my brain.
Laters, yo.
I have disappeared because I've started a webcomic (finally) that I've actually been updating on a regular basis. I've had a few false starts on webcomics in the past, and this time I'm determined to stick to it. I've also been getting favourable responses, so that's helping. Mind you, 99% of the people reading my comics are my friends, and would likely not tell me if my comics sucked, so I should take that for what it is. When I get around to doing some real promotion (not until I hit 30 strips, as some wise webcomic authors have suggested) then hopefully I'll start to get some feedback from people who don't know me directly. Whether it's people emailing me with things like "hay faggit, ur comic sucks lol. go back to idiot school" or just staring for hours at a Google Analytics screen and wondering what the fuck a 'bounce rate' is (I know what a bounce rate is...now). I'm taking some advice from the people who do Webcomics Weekly, and I'm not getting too ahead of myself before I've established some kind of nest for myself. That is, I'm not thinking about t-shirts, or conventions, or books or any of that crap, I'm just focusing on the comic, and as a sidebar, getting people to read the comic. Of course, the best way to do that is to make a good comic, so I'll try. I'll probably look back on the comics I'm doing right now in a year or two and cringe, but we'll have to see. It's like those wise webcomickers said - we have the unique opportunity of practising and improving while also presenting it to an audience. We can get real-time critique as our art and writing develops, which is something that was unavailable back in the days when in order for your work to ever be seen it had to be syndicated. My short term goal is to put out 100 comics in the first year. That is, hit comic #100 by January 2nd 2012. I'm sure that I'll miss an update or two, I'm human, and I need to work and go to school and to actually have ideas and stuff, but I'm going to try. 100 comics in a year, that actually sounds crazy and undoable now that I see it written out. Then again, I'm at 20 now, so we'll see.
As more of a record for myself, here is my current plan:
Comic 30 - apply for Project Wonderful to put a couple of ads on my site. This will (maybe, hopefully) earn be a couple of bucks, but most likely earn me nothing and put my name out there for advertisers to notice.
Comic 45 or 50 - put out my own ads. The reason I don't want to do it before this is a) monetary b) so that I can prove to myself that I can go half of the year without a lot of outside encouragement and still want to do this and c) I'd like to have a really nice backlog in case people like my comic enough to spend some time reading it.
Comic ~75 - At this point I'll probably start to expand the way that I'm telling people about the comic. I'm not going to start listing it on those "webcomics top 100 list" sites, because let's be honest- who cares? I used to go to those sites when I was 11 and the comics it had me reading were usually pretty crappy. When I say I'll expand, I mean message boards that I frequent, talking to people I know who run blogs and stuff, it's not gonna be anything major, I'm not looking to become Scott Kurtz 3/4 of a year into my strip, but I want to sort of get used to talking about my comic.
Comic 100 - Celebrate, then realize it's an arbitrary number and get working on comic #101.
That's basically that. How much of this is going to go according to plan? Who knows, maybe this time next year I'll have a few more readers than I do now, maybe I won't. I'm not gonna agonize over it so early into my comic. I'm doing this because I love doing it, and there's nothing I'd rather do than draw comics for the rest of my life.
Speaking of my life, I need an internship, and a job ... FAST.
All that being said - I probably won't be updating here often. I've started a tumblr (HERE) and my comic is located at www.adventuresome.ca. I'm not gonna take this blog down, because I'm sure I'll want it again sometime, but for the time being, that's where you will find all of the garbage that spills out of my brain.
Laters, yo.
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Me not dead
Hey I am alive and not dead. It's final project crunch time, so I'm working away at that. Procrastinating here, though.
Quick up to date things:
Music - Thin Lizzy, Some earlier Iron and Wine, Lots of Astronautalis and P.O.S as well as a decent amount of Tori Amos I hadn't been familiar with.
Movies - Wayne's World is still incredible, still having attempts to watch Wayne's World 2 thwarted at every turn.
TV - Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, Married With Children, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Stargate Universe, Boardwalk Empire, all great. So good.
Books - Uhhhhhhhhhh, I'm working on it.
Drawing some comics, be news soon I hope.
Tonight I felt something I haven't in a long time, and it reminded me of my step-dad and I almost lost it. I am not having a good time right now. In other news, I am glad my friends are awesome and keep me from going crazy in situations such as these, and are willing to go out into cold to do so, my friends are the best.
Speaking of friends, Mary is back! Not very good conditions of her return, which is sucky, but as much as I'd like to claim otherwise, I did miss her.
Also, almost winter break, looking for work, sleep, etc.
Quick up to date things:
Music - Thin Lizzy, Some earlier Iron and Wine, Lots of Astronautalis and P.O.S as well as a decent amount of Tori Amos I hadn't been familiar with.
Movies - Wayne's World is still incredible, still having attempts to watch Wayne's World 2 thwarted at every turn.
TV - Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, Married With Children, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Stargate Universe, Boardwalk Empire, all great. So good.
Books - Uhhhhhhhhhh, I'm working on it.
Drawing some comics, be news soon I hope.
Tonight I felt something I haven't in a long time, and it reminded me of my step-dad and I almost lost it. I am not having a good time right now. In other news, I am glad my friends are awesome and keep me from going crazy in situations such as these, and are willing to go out into cold to do so, my friends are the best.
Speaking of friends, Mary is back! Not very good conditions of her return, which is sucky, but as much as I'd like to claim otherwise, I did miss her.
Also, almost winter break, looking for work, sleep, etc.
Labels:
Movie,
Music,
Rambling,
Television
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Like old Job
I had a dream last night that Josh Homme and Billy Corgan formed a band. This would be incredible. Those two guys are both among my favourite guitarists and vocalists (don't even ask me about Billy Corgan, I don't know why but I can't get enough of his voice for some stupid reason). I was pretty disappointed when I woke up and that wasn't real.
Also the thought of those two being on the same stage is hilarious.
So I got my new guitar yesterday. An Epiphone Les Paul Studio. I got it with funds I got from selling my bass (finally) so I'm not at a loss. It's so very pretty, and I can finally play some songs that I've wanted to but didn't have the right tone (or for that matter, number of frets) to sound right.
Haven't named it yet, but I have a couple of ideas.
On the topic of having a guitar I can play, I want to get songmaking. Andrew and I were talking about doing some stuff for Imperial (a steampunk prog project we came up with once for god knows what reason, I think we were making fun of Metric), and There's A Couple of Guys Work The Panic, which I would really like to get working on, it's just a matter of the two of us being there at the same time and not either a) tired as hell b) about to go out or c) sleeping. It's been a busy summer and between money issues and things going on music time has been limited. I'm hoping to get past that soon though because I wanna.
Also, I have some songs written that I don't really think fit into either of those projects, but I dunno. That can wait.
On the topic of ambitions, Art... I really need to get on that shit. I spend close to an hour and a half a day on public transit. Maybe if I converted that from staring blankly into drawing time, I could get some work done. I find that once I start something like that I am much more inclined to see the final product, it's just that I spend far too much time thinking about it, and not enough time making it happen. Need to improve that.
I've said it a million times, but I'll say it again, I want an artist table at next year's FanExpo.
So, albums currently occupying my time:
QOTSA - Era Vulgaris
Blackfield - Blackfield II
Marillion - Clutching at Straws
And hard as I might try, I just can't seem to get into Riverside. Sorry, Zack.
Also the thought of those two being on the same stage is hilarious.
So I got my new guitar yesterday. An Epiphone Les Paul Studio. I got it with funds I got from selling my bass (finally) so I'm not at a loss. It's so very pretty, and I can finally play some songs that I've wanted to but didn't have the right tone (or for that matter, number of frets) to sound right.
Haven't named it yet, but I have a couple of ideas.
On the topic of having a guitar I can play, I want to get songmaking. Andrew and I were talking about doing some stuff for Imperial (a steampunk prog project we came up with once for god knows what reason, I think we were making fun of Metric), and There's A Couple of Guys Work The Panic, which I would really like to get working on, it's just a matter of the two of us being there at the same time and not either a) tired as hell b) about to go out or c) sleeping. It's been a busy summer and between money issues and things going on music time has been limited. I'm hoping to get past that soon though because I wanna.
Also, I have some songs written that I don't really think fit into either of those projects, but I dunno. That can wait.
On the topic of ambitions, Art... I really need to get on that shit. I spend close to an hour and a half a day on public transit. Maybe if I converted that from staring blankly into drawing time, I could get some work done. I find that once I start something like that I am much more inclined to see the final product, it's just that I spend far too much time thinking about it, and not enough time making it happen. Need to improve that.
I've said it a million times, but I'll say it again, I want an artist table at next year's FanExpo.
So, albums currently occupying my time:
QOTSA - Era Vulgaris
Blackfield - Blackfield II
Marillion - Clutching at Straws
And hard as I might try, I just can't seem to get into Riverside. Sorry, Zack.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Bloodshot stare like a hoodlum
Man Have I ever mentioned how sweet Queens of the Stone Age are?
So Fan Expo is this weekend, that's exciting. I don't really think anybody is going though, which is kind of lame. I'll have to see, I already have my pass, but I mean, it would be better if I had some company.
Dazzler's got a whole new bag of tricks for your ear holes. If you know what that means, then you've already heard.
I am hoping to buy a new guitar. I will most likely be selling Ba-basslebub, and hopefully that will give me enough money to put with my guitar fund to get one of the few I've had my eye on. I want an electric Les Paul-ish model (really just that roundness and cutout are important) with humbuckers passives if possible. I saw one with a floyd rose that would have been great but I'm not so much in the money. Also an active pickup would have been fun but I can always do that later.
Aside from that I'm gonna need some pedals. An Overdrive is easy enough to come by, but I'm thinking I'd like a phaser at some point. And a talk box maybe? Oh my.
I've been wanting to get to serious work on a comic this entire summer, but it's really hard to find time. It's not that I don't have free time, it's just that I don't have a lot of it, and when I'm done work all I want to really do is make dinner and hang out with people. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for personal projects like that (unless they involve the people I want to hang out with). I have a couple of ideas, and I still want to get my stupid scanner working so I can get some blood curse going, but I dunno.
So Fan Expo is this weekend, that's exciting. I don't really think anybody is going though, which is kind of lame. I'll have to see, I already have my pass, but I mean, it would be better if I had some company.
Dazzler's got a whole new bag of tricks for your ear holes. If you know what that means, then you've already heard.
I am hoping to buy a new guitar. I will most likely be selling Ba-basslebub, and hopefully that will give me enough money to put with my guitar fund to get one of the few I've had my eye on. I want an electric Les Paul-ish model (really just that roundness and cutout are important) with humbuckers passives if possible. I saw one with a floyd rose that would have been great but I'm not so much in the money. Also an active pickup would have been fun but I can always do that later.
Aside from that I'm gonna need some pedals. An Overdrive is easy enough to come by, but I'm thinking I'd like a phaser at some point. And a talk box maybe? Oh my.
I've been wanting to get to serious work on a comic this entire summer, but it's really hard to find time. It's not that I don't have free time, it's just that I don't have a lot of it, and when I'm done work all I want to really do is make dinner and hang out with people. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for personal projects like that (unless they involve the people I want to hang out with). I have a couple of ideas, and I still want to get my stupid scanner working so I can get some blood curse going, but I dunno.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Arghh
I am so tired of working here, I need to get out. I remember when I worked somewhere that valued the work I did, this is no longer that place, I'm not appreciated, hell, the current person in charge doesn't know what I do. It will be nice when I can work somewhere that doesn't make me want to die again.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
100%
I saw Chromeo last night. I don't think I've ever been so pleasantly surprised by a live show.
To say they were good is not only an understatement, but it doesn't accurately describe what they were. Chromeo is an electro-funk 80's pop-rock revival outfit, and that might be why I made certain assumptions about their live show before I saw it. I figured that they were the type of band that relied on studio editing and mixing to get that sweet sound they have, I was totally wrong. They somehow sounded better live, something I'd expect from a band like Zappa plays Zappa or Sonic Youth, but I was completely thrown off by how amazing Chromeo's show was. The talk-box stuff was especially sweet, and the guitarist tore.it.the.fuck.up. They broke into Money for Nothing by Dire Straits for a second, and though they didn't cover the whole song, it was still almost my favourite part of the show. I don't even know what my favourite part was, all of it? Is that a thing I can say?
I am a guy who is looking for new employment in the graphic design industry. Give to me your jobs, world. I will take the images and the words and arrange them in such a way as to appeal to you and your audience. Lend my your colours that I may wield them, manipulate and attach them to my semiotic objects, sent forth to do your dark work, to sell your evil hair products or whatever.
I can also do web, so that is also neat. I am trying to learn PHP, but things are hard.
To say they were good is not only an understatement, but it doesn't accurately describe what they were. Chromeo is an electro-funk 80's pop-rock revival outfit, and that might be why I made certain assumptions about their live show before I saw it. I figured that they were the type of band that relied on studio editing and mixing to get that sweet sound they have, I was totally wrong. They somehow sounded better live, something I'd expect from a band like Zappa plays Zappa or Sonic Youth, but I was completely thrown off by how amazing Chromeo's show was. The talk-box stuff was especially sweet, and the guitarist tore.it.the.fuck.up. They broke into Money for Nothing by Dire Straits for a second, and though they didn't cover the whole song, it was still almost my favourite part of the show. I don't even know what my favourite part was, all of it? Is that a thing I can say?
I am a guy who is looking for new employment in the graphic design industry. Give to me your jobs, world. I will take the images and the words and arrange them in such a way as to appeal to you and your audience. Lend my your colours that I may wield them, manipulate and attach them to my semiotic objects, sent forth to do your dark work, to sell your evil hair products or whatever.
I can also do web, so that is also neat. I am trying to learn PHP, but things are hard.
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