July 5, 2008 at 4:34 pm · Filed under art, crafts, general
I’ve been productive. Usually when I think about what to write in this thing, I think to myself, “There’s nothing interesting going on. I’m not doing anything.” But then I realized I’ve done quite a bit since my last blog entry.
I’ve been doing some writing of a cooperative sort and it’s been inspiring me to expand and refine characters of mine, which usually means a bit of tweaking and lots of concept pictures! I’ve also done some redesign for one of Nate’s characters, who has sorely needed it for a couple of years.
I also got most of my stuff re-uploaded to my site’s gallery now. There might be a few pieces I’ve neglected to add, but I probably will in due time. I also renewed my domain hosting (I remembered, yay!), so my site won’t be going anywhere for at least another year.
And, as usual… crocheting. I’ve gotten Nate’s mom hooked on crocheted dishcloths, so I’m in the process of making a few of those, and I’ve finally used that delicious wool I got and have plenty left over for more yarn love.
Just a side note: We barbecued for the fourth and that’s about it. It’s too mosquito-y out to go see fireworks.
June 22, 2008 at 12:35 am · Filed under gaming, geekery
My PS2’s disc read error issue has gotten worse; I now cannot play ANY DISC that I put into the console, for gaming or otherwise. That sucks like nothing else, even though I have a DVD player that’s separate so I can still watch movies.
I now need to crack the sucker open and mess with the innards. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion the position of the laser has something to do with it…
I just need to get me one of those itty-bitty eyeglass/jeweler screwdrivers. Sigh.
June 16, 2008 at 12:36 am · Filed under geekery, general
If anyone tried to access any part of my site or a sub-site on the skogul.net domain in the last 48 hours and got a 404 error, that’s because I’m in the process of moving my operations to a new host.
I’d been with DreamHost for 2 years, and despite a few problems (none of which really affected me that much), they’re a pretty solid service for $7-10 USD/mo. Buuut, I got an offer from the gracious and awesome Dee of void-star.net for free hosting, and I decided to take her up on it once my current hosting plan ended with DH.
So, I first changed the DNS servers for my domain from DH’s to vs’, which took about… I dunno, 12-48 hours to propagate across the internet, then began to move my content. The site and my blog are up and running and now I’m slowly re-uploading my artwork to the gallery. That will probably take a few days to get done simply because of the volume of files I need to sort through.
June 1, 2008 at 9:50 am · Filed under crafts, geekery
Since I’ve really started crocheting (and slowly learning to knit), I’ve only ever bought yarn from places like Michaels, Joann’s and Walmart, because they were close and affordable.
I did some looking on google eventually for a proper LYS (Local Yarn Shop/Store) and found one called The Wool Patch in Middleboro, right down route 28. I finally got Nate to agree to drive me there while we were out on Friday doing errands.
I was pleasantly surprised with the shop. The proprietor was very friendly and helpful given it was my first time in a proper yarn shop, and I eventually settled on two gorgeous hanks of Cascade 220 heathers. She was nice enough to wind them into balls for me and Nate was fascinated by the swift and ballwinder in action. He later reported it was, “Not as bad as he thought it would be” and that he’d go with me again some time. VICTORY!
I gave Spider a bath today with the hose. He didn’t appreciate it at the time, but he feels a lot better now.
May 28, 2008 at 6:40 am · Filed under general
I was checking my email and there was a promotional/newsletter message and there was some kind of fancy ass new motherboard sweepstakes… so, I said, “What the hell, sign me up.” Never hurts, and I may just actually win, although I doubt it.
So, I’m putting in the info and all that, and I look at the big banner image at the top and notice the deadline for entries…
June… 3th? Don’t they mean 3rd? 3th would be the thirth, right? Not the third, the thirth.
Newegg might want to assign some proofreaders for their graphics department.
May 27, 2008 at 5:55 am · Filed under art, general
A bit of shameless self-promotion: If anyone didn’t already know, I sell prints of some of my work through RedBubble. I’ve sold a few, but haven’t gotten any feedback on how they turned out. A few more sales wouldn’t hurt if anyone’s interested. :p
I finished the FlyFF version of Skogul piece. It turned out rather nicely if I do say so myself, considering a lot of it was me experimenting with new coloring and blending techniques. It won’t be a print because that’s treading close to copyright infringement territory, and I don’t go there.
Next, I’m to draw either a Theban hoplite or a Macedonian phalanx. It really depends on which I can get more acceptable reference for. Maybe I’ll do it in an art nouveau style. Greek soldiers in art nouveau? EXCELLENT.
I’m feeling terribly stressed out for some reason. I’ve got a good idea why, but I don’t think that alone is the reason. I don’t like it and I want it to go away.
May 20, 2008 at 9:00 pm · Filed under art, general
Went with Nate to the college to get some papers back, and there’s this nice little market in a shopping center near the campus. Once we were done, I wanted to browse and we discovered there’s a bunch of really fresh, affordable mediterranean and middle eastern eats to be had there.
We ended up getting some fresh hummus, some falafel and a big pack of enormous Lebanese-style pita bread that cost the same as the supermarket stuff, but bigger and more of it.
We will definitely be going back. I’ll probably just give Nate some cash before he goes to class and he can grab lunch and some extra stuff there.
I’m also working on a drawing of the FlyFF version of Sko. I was on an art hiatus for a couple of months because I kinda burnt myself out toward the end of last year, and I needed to stimulate myself back into regular arting. I also wanted to do an actiony pose.
May 14, 2008 at 11:39 pm · Filed under film, gaming, geekery, pets
It’s true. Nothing gets me giggling aloud when I play a game more than absurd (and decidedly non-obtrusive) graphics glitches. If they impede my ability to enjoy the game, that’s another matter entirely, but so far these have just been wholly cosmetic.
In other news, the semester is now officially over and I’m making slow but steady progress on my throw blanket. Very slow. But, the way the weather can’t seem to realize it’s now the middle of May, not March, I’ll still have occasion to use the blanket once it’s done!
The formatting with those two images is borked and I don’t know how to fix it. Oh well.
May 10, 2008 at 4:39 pm · Filed under general
Not a whole lot of actual interest going on with me right now. Here’s a shortlist of the things of negligible interest.
- I finally bothered to draw a proper reference for Skogul, though I feel like I could’ve added more to it, in terms of detail shots, but I got lazy.
- Mother’s Day is tomorrow, and it’s going to be hard for me. I think they’ll always be hard for me for the rest of my life, but it still seems like my mom passed away just a short time ago at this point. :\
- Speaking of Mother’s Day, I got Nate’s mom (practically my mother-in-law) some cross-stitch stuff. She used to do it and expressed interest in picking up a hobby again, so I figured it would be nice and thoughtful.
- FlyFF is down, and that’s pretty lame.
- I’ve started a new crochet project: a throw blanket. I’ve… done three rows. I have many more to go.
- I got a $5 starbucks giftcard from a coupon/voucher thing because I buy the beans so often at Stop & Shop. This makes me feel oddly awesome and special, despite how minor it is.
- One of Nate’s friends wants to go to a local flea market with us some time. I find myself wanting to do mostly to see if there are any good deals on yarns.
See? Nothing remotely important, or really all that interesting.
May 1, 2008 at 7:24 am · Filed under crafts
I finished a simple scarf pattern I found some time around the middle of April, but didn’t get around to snapping any photos of it until now. So, here it is~
It was simple, and worked up incredibly fast. I was actually so used to going through the motions that I wasn’t even paying attention to my work as I stitched, and didn’t find myself making any real mistakes bar a few extra dcs that I had to frog.
Just double-crochets and chains over and over again until I ran out of yarn (took about 3/4ths of a skein of red heart super saver), then used what little was left for fringe on the ends. The openwork of the pattern allows for a lightweight, drapey scarf that’s not going to boil your neck if you wear it in more mild weather, but will also keep you warm if you need it… which was perfect for Nate.
Too bad it’s gotten officially spring-like here in Massachusetts and there’s not really any need for a scarf at all. It’ll have to wait until autumn to get some real use.
Yaaay, I kinda feel like a real crocheter now.
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