On the surface, little had changed. Perhaps it was a little more subdued than usual, yet storms still raged and calmed over the waters. The sun continued its cycle of death and rebirth, melting into the horizon each night and emerging again each morning. The tides persisted in their neverending dance with the moon. The grains of sand on the shore remained innumerable. But in the depths below, where kelp forests took root and anglers waited in the dark with their swinging lanterns, the Ocean had become silent.
The whalesong had disappeared.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Friday, February 05, 2010
033 Squared
Thanks for the well wishes, everyone. I missed February 2-4, but I'll keep on trying to do stuff when I can. I'll continue numbering things in the title. Maybe at some point I can fire out multiple things and catch up. Not quite MSCE, but close?
032, the hourly comic, still has to be scanned. I don't really have a scanner. Hmm.
Today, I rearranged a tiger tangram back into a square:
The image comes from an entry in the current shirt.woot derby. It is not my design. Rearranging art is creative though, right? And cool? Alright then. :P
032, the hourly comic, still has to be scanned. I don't really have a scanner. Hmm.
Today, I rearranged a tiger tangram back into a square:
The image comes from an entry in the current shirt.woot derby. It is not my design. Rearranging art is creative though, right? And cool? Alright then. :P
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Quitting
With a heavy heart, I must end my streak at 32 days. I made it up to February 1, but I can't keep it up. Real Life decided to slap me across the face and throw me into a wall. School work is crushing me so I'm going to have to give up some luxuries, like being creative outside of thesoftware engineering field.
When I find some free time, I'll upload the Hourly Comic sketches. If I do something particularly creative one day, I'll post it. But I can't keep it as a daily thing anymore. :(
Maybe next year.
To my fellow MSCEers, good luck and keep on keepin' on!
When I find some free time, I'll upload the Hourly Comic sketches. If I do something particularly creative one day, I'll post it. But I can't keep it as a daily thing anymore. :(
Maybe next year.
To my fellow MSCEers, good luck and keep on keepin' on!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Hourly Comic Day
If anyone out there is reading, February 1 is Hourly Comic Day. I urge my fellow MSCEers to try it out - I'm going to try it for the first time as well. More info here!
031 it snowed all night
Morning broke. She opened the door to find footsteps leading away, fresh in the newly fallen snow. Once again, she briefly wondered why the footprints only went in one direction.
She picked up the frozen rose at her doorstep and went back inside. It was cold.
She picked up the frozen rose at her doorstep and went back inside. It was cold.
027-030 Spirals and Hearts
January 27: The clip art continues! This one is in classy black and white.
January 28 and 29: Worked on an entry for the shirt.woot Heart derby. I did the sketch on the 28th and transformed it into the final piece on the 29th. I'm not entirely happy with how it came out, but conceptually I think it is one of my best. Hearts is a great card game. As always, click on the shirt composition image to go to the derby submission for a larger view.
January 30: Another derby entry. Came up with a fun concept for a quick and easy design. I think I did ok on the duct tape texture.
An alternative title was "It Doesn't Fix Everything".
Maybe I just need more tape.
January 28 and 29: Worked on an entry for the shirt.woot Heart derby. I did the sketch on the 28th and transformed it into the final piece on the 29th. I'm not entirely happy with how it came out, but conceptually I think it is one of my best. Hearts is a great card game. As always, click on the shirt composition image to go to the derby submission for a larger view.
January 30: Another derby entry. Came up with a fun concept for a quick and easy design. I think I did ok on the duct tape texture.
An alternative title was "It Doesn't Fix Everything".
Maybe I just need more tape.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
026
there is heat, there is light
but they have not your eyes
not your words
not your voice
not your song
and though they must away
this never will fade
ever filled
ever held
ever strong
but they have not your eyes
not your words
not your voice
not your song
and though they must away
this never will fade
ever filled
ever held
ever strong
Monday, January 25, 2010
023-025 Palindrome Madness
So I did end up submitting to the Palindrome derby, but it turned out not to be the one the Star Rats sketch I did for January 21.
January 23:
January 24:
January 25:
I still have a few ideas that probably won't come to fruition. "Slam Mammals" could be very interesting, but the design I see in my head is beyond the ability of my hands. "Sleek Eels" could potentially be an artsy piece. I thought that "Straw Warts" could be illustrated by drawing a toad-scarecrow (and the design could be augmented with a tin-toad and a lion-toad... ha). "Lost Sol" could be something beautiful, but again - beyond my ability.
Palindromes!
January 23:
January 24:
January 25:
I still have a few ideas that probably won't come to fruition. "Slam Mammals" could be very interesting, but the design I see in my head is beyond the ability of my hands. "Sleek Eels" could potentially be an artsy piece. I thought that "Straw Warts" could be illustrated by drawing a toad-scarecrow (and the design could be augmented with a tin-toad and a lion-toad... ha). "Lost Sol" could be something beautiful, but again - beyond my ability.
Palindromes!
Friday, January 22, 2010
022 no man is an island
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. -- John Donne, Meditation XVII
Dear friend,
It's been years now, hasn't it? It's hard to keep track, but the Boulder is covered in tallies - one for each day, until there was no more room. Looking back, I don't know how I've managed to survive this long.
I mean, I hate coconuts. It's irrational, I know, but I hate them. I abhor the thickness of each shell. The milk disgusts me and the meat is no better. I despise their very shape.
I hate the sand. Each grain is another second in this hourglass of a prison, another second that I've lost, another second that I will inevitably waste, stranded on this wretched island.
I hate the sun. He is a pedantic old fool, watching me at all moments with a disapproving glare. He spends the day burning me into a mess of peeling red skin and exposed nerves. When I am finally acclimatized to the heat, he flees into the west so that I may freeze through the night.
I spend most of my time scanning the beaches. I wander the entire perimeter, lap after lap. My heart races with every glint and glimmer, though almost always it is a mere shard of glass, a small pool of water or a trick of the light.
But today - today I found it. This little green bottle, this single happiness in my life. He is like a messenger of the gods - like Hermes! If only he were as swift.
How many years has it been? How long have we been writing to each other? How many letters have we exchanged, trusting our hopes and our dreams to this little green bottle and the tides that carry him?
I think that you are all that gets me through the day. Without you, I would have no reason to get up in the morning. I would swim away from this place, as far as I could go, and when my arms failed me I would drown in my own indifference. Or at the very least, I would finally get around to writing that giant SOS along the shore (dragging heavy rocks is a drag).
My biggest fear is neither thirst nor hunger, nor rabid cassowary attacks - scary as they are. No, my biggest fear is that the ocean currents change and little Hermes is lost forever.
So even if I never see you, thank-you. Thank-you for the stories you have given me. Thank-you for telling me about the flowers you discover and the sand castles you build. Thank-you for keeping my sanity intact. It is comforting when you say that your island is just as humdrum as mine, though your way with words makes it sound so much more exciting. Despite everything else - despite the coconuts, the sand, the sun, the cassowaries - you make me thankful for being stranded. So thank-you.
I hope you get this message soon, and in good health. Write back soon.
Yours,
E.
Dear friend,
It's been years now, hasn't it? It's hard to keep track, but the Boulder is covered in tallies - one for each day, until there was no more room. Looking back, I don't know how I've managed to survive this long.
I mean, I hate coconuts. It's irrational, I know, but I hate them. I abhor the thickness of each shell. The milk disgusts me and the meat is no better. I despise their very shape.
I hate the sand. Each grain is another second in this hourglass of a prison, another second that I've lost, another second that I will inevitably waste, stranded on this wretched island.
I hate the sun. He is a pedantic old fool, watching me at all moments with a disapproving glare. He spends the day burning me into a mess of peeling red skin and exposed nerves. When I am finally acclimatized to the heat, he flees into the west so that I may freeze through the night.
I spend most of my time scanning the beaches. I wander the entire perimeter, lap after lap. My heart races with every glint and glimmer, though almost always it is a mere shard of glass, a small pool of water or a trick of the light.
But today - today I found it. This little green bottle, this single happiness in my life. He is like a messenger of the gods - like Hermes! If only he were as swift.
How many years has it been? How long have we been writing to each other? How many letters have we exchanged, trusting our hopes and our dreams to this little green bottle and the tides that carry him?
I think that you are all that gets me through the day. Without you, I would have no reason to get up in the morning. I would swim away from this place, as far as I could go, and when my arms failed me I would drown in my own indifference. Or at the very least, I would finally get around to writing that giant SOS along the shore (dragging heavy rocks is a drag).
My biggest fear is neither thirst nor hunger, nor rabid cassowary attacks - scary as they are. No, my biggest fear is that the ocean currents change and little Hermes is lost forever.
So even if I never see you, thank-you. Thank-you for the stories you have given me. Thank-you for telling me about the flowers you discover and the sand castles you build. Thank-you for keeping my sanity intact. It is comforting when you say that your island is just as humdrum as mine, though your way with words makes it sound so much more exciting. Despite everything else - despite the coconuts, the sand, the sun, the cassowaries - you make me thankful for being stranded. So thank-you.
I hope you get this message soon, and in good health. Write back soon.
Yours,
E.
019-021 Clip Art, Toes, Palindrome
January 19: Recall, if you will, the horror of January 11. Well, I've decided to make it a regular thing. Behold: clip art.
There are two arrangements. The first one was taken without flash, which is the reason why it's a little blurry. On another note, I can't believe my fingernails grew so much in just a week. By my previous estimates, I only clipped once every two weeks. Hmm.
January 20: TOES.
They grow much slower than fingernails. Awesome stuff.
January 21: It's the weekly shirt.woot sketch! It's been three weeks since MSCE started and I've managed to come up with an idea each week. Aside from Vertices, I haven't taken any of them through to final design. This week's theme is Palindromes. I went through a few other ideas - senile felines, stressed desserts, emit time, "No sir, away! A papaya war is on!" - but ultimately ended up back at the classic "star rats". Simplicity is where it's at.
I actually really like this concept. Rats fit so perfectly into space, given that the moon is made of cheese!
I'll consider doing a cleaner version of this for Saturday's MSCE...
There are two arrangements. The first one was taken without flash, which is the reason why it's a little blurry. On another note, I can't believe my fingernails grew so much in just a week. By my previous estimates, I only clipped once every two weeks. Hmm.January 20: TOES.
They grow much slower than fingernails. Awesome stuff.
January 21: It's the weekly shirt.woot sketch! It's been three weeks since MSCE started and I've managed to come up with an idea each week. Aside from Vertices, I haven't taken any of them through to final design. This week's theme is Palindromes. I went through a few other ideas - senile felines, stressed desserts, emit time, "No sir, away! A papaya war is on!" - but ultimately ended up back at the classic "star rats". Simplicity is where it's at.
I actually really like this concept. Rats fit so perfectly into space, given that the moon is made of cheese!I'll consider doing a cleaner version of this for Saturday's MSCE...
Monday, January 18, 2010
018 the man who would not sleep
Two old men sat back-to-back on plain wooden chairs. They were in the middle of an otherwise empty white room, dimly lit by a bare bulb hanging from the center of the ceiling. The first man faced a window to the east, waiting for the break of dawn. If anyone had been watching, however, their eyes would have been drawn immediately to the other, who sat facing the western window.
"Come," he said.
He was dressed in a cloak like a sleepy rain cloud - lavender-grey and lined with silver. He was a man of contrasts - his rheumy eyes were at once merry and melancholy, his ashen hair both thin and rich, his stately presence delicate yet enduring, his very being fresh yet ancient beyond understanding. He was Evanescence. He was Eternity.
With palpable patience he contemplated the western horizon; the sun had long since turned in for the night. In his right hand he held a small pile of sand.
The first man was just as still, but nowhere near as peaceful. He was like a statue, motionless, but his appearance of quietude was betrayed by the intensity of his gaze. His worn clothing and weary manner said all that there was to say of his life.
He was Fatigue. And he was Regret.
Slowly but surely, his head dipped and his eyes closed. Suddenly, his head jerked back to its original position and his eyes snapped open again.
"I won't go," he said. "I can't."
The other was quiet for a moment. "And why not?" he asked wistfully. "What light through yonder window breaks? I can tell you that the west is dark. You can see that the east is no brighter. Come, old friend."
"I can't," he repeated.
"I've given you many good dreams over the years, haven't I? So again I ask - why not?"
"No time," came the heavy reply. "There's just not enough time. There is still so much left to do. So much I haven't done..." he trailed into silence.
"Go then, dear friend. Go and do what you must."
But neither man moved.
"You will not go and neither will you come," the ancient man sighed, "but you cannot stay here. Not for much longer."
"And if I sleep, then where do the minutes and hours go? I've lost days and months." He paused. "You are a thief. And you've stolen years of my life."
"Will you come?"
He smiled a bitter smile. "No. How much more time must you take from me?"
"Time," the cloaked figure repeated, a sad smile on his face. He looked down at the sand resting in his palm. A few grains slipped through his fingers, winking out of existence in a small burst of light before reaching the dusty floorboards. "Time is ephemeral."
He stood and, with his left hand, removed an ornate hourglass from a hidden pocket in his cloak. He transferred the remaining grains to the instrument with a well-practiced fluorish. "Goodbye, my friend," he said as he placed the timer on the seat he had just vacated.
The stubborn old man said nothing, but continued to watch the eastern horizon. Soon after, he was alone. The only sound was the whisper of sand as grains trickled through the glass.
When the sun finally broke over the eastern horizon, the shadows in the room stretched into being. A word echoed in the room, though no voice had spoken aloud.
"Come."
The old man bowed his head. As the last grain of sand fell from the upper bulb to the lower, a skeletal hand touched his shoulder.
He went.
"Come," he said.
He was dressed in a cloak like a sleepy rain cloud - lavender-grey and lined with silver. He was a man of contrasts - his rheumy eyes were at once merry and melancholy, his ashen hair both thin and rich, his stately presence delicate yet enduring, his very being fresh yet ancient beyond understanding. He was Evanescence. He was Eternity.
With palpable patience he contemplated the western horizon; the sun had long since turned in for the night. In his right hand he held a small pile of sand.
The first man was just as still, but nowhere near as peaceful. He was like a statue, motionless, but his appearance of quietude was betrayed by the intensity of his gaze. His worn clothing and weary manner said all that there was to say of his life.
He was Fatigue. And he was Regret.
Slowly but surely, his head dipped and his eyes closed. Suddenly, his head jerked back to its original position and his eyes snapped open again.
"I won't go," he said. "I can't."
The other was quiet for a moment. "And why not?" he asked wistfully. "What light through yonder window breaks? I can tell you that the west is dark. You can see that the east is no brighter. Come, old friend."
"I can't," he repeated.
"I've given you many good dreams over the years, haven't I? So again I ask - why not?"
"No time," came the heavy reply. "There's just not enough time. There is still so much left to do. So much I haven't done..." he trailed into silence.
"Go then, dear friend. Go and do what you must."
But neither man moved.
"You will not go and neither will you come," the ancient man sighed, "but you cannot stay here. Not for much longer."
"And if I sleep, then where do the minutes and hours go? I've lost days and months." He paused. "You are a thief. And you've stolen years of my life."
"Will you come?"
He smiled a bitter smile. "No. How much more time must you take from me?"
"Time," the cloaked figure repeated, a sad smile on his face. He looked down at the sand resting in his palm. A few grains slipped through his fingers, winking out of existence in a small burst of light before reaching the dusty floorboards. "Time is ephemeral."
He stood and, with his left hand, removed an ornate hourglass from a hidden pocket in his cloak. He transferred the remaining grains to the instrument with a well-practiced fluorish. "Goodbye, my friend," he said as he placed the timer on the seat he had just vacated.
The stubborn old man said nothing, but continued to watch the eastern horizon. Soon after, he was alone. The only sound was the whisper of sand as grains trickled through the glass.
When the sun finally broke over the eastern horizon, the shadows in the room stretched into being. A word echoed in the room, though no voice had spoken aloud.
"Come."
The old man bowed his head. As the last grain of sand fell from the upper bulb to the lower, a skeletal hand touched his shoulder.
He went.
015-017 Hats, Colours, Haste
January 15: Shuriken Hat
On Friday nights I volunteer at a kid's program at my church. A little less than a month from now we will be having a Crazy Hat theme night. I plan on making a few crazy hats. Naturally, one of my first ideas was to fold a gigantic shuriken hat.
This 8-point shuriken is a modular design consisting of 8 pieces that connect into a ring. The ring can then be pushed together to form the throwing star. The transformation process does not work very well for this particular shuriken because it was made with thick poster paper (my arms were sore after folding all the pieces).
For a sense of scale, here is a photo of my sister wearing the "hat".
January 16: Colouring
A favourite childhood pastime - colouring. Be it cheap cartoony lineart in a book or a fresh white wall that mom just cleaned, kids like to paint the town red. Or blue. Or whatever crayons are available.
In Photoshop, I find it immensely relaxing to colour well-drawn greyscale images. It's actually rather easy - set a layer to "Colorize" and then have at it. Of course, one can do a bit more through various filters and masked adjustment layers.
From the beautiful comic "The Abominable Charles Christopher", by the amazing Karl Kerschl, comes this wonderful image. Below, I've desecrated his art with hideous colour. :)
January 17: Hasty Drawing
I was busy pretty much the entire day, so this is what I have to show for it. Hurrah?
The comment about my left hand is, of course, a reference to January 11.
On Friday nights I volunteer at a kid's program at my church. A little less than a month from now we will be having a Crazy Hat theme night. I plan on making a few crazy hats. Naturally, one of my first ideas was to fold a gigantic shuriken hat.
This 8-point shuriken is a modular design consisting of 8 pieces that connect into a ring. The ring can then be pushed together to form the throwing star. The transformation process does not work very well for this particular shuriken because it was made with thick poster paper (my arms were sore after folding all the pieces).
For a sense of scale, here is a photo of my sister wearing the "hat".
January 16: Colouring
A favourite childhood pastime - colouring. Be it cheap cartoony lineart in a book or a fresh white wall that mom just cleaned, kids like to paint the town red. Or blue. Or whatever crayons are available.
In Photoshop, I find it immensely relaxing to colour well-drawn greyscale images. It's actually rather easy - set a layer to "Colorize" and then have at it. Of course, one can do a bit more through various filters and masked adjustment layers.
From the beautiful comic "The Abominable Charles Christopher", by the amazing Karl Kerschl, comes this wonderful image. Below, I've desecrated his art with hideous colour. :)
January 17: Hasty Drawing
I was busy pretty much the entire day, so this is what I have to show for it. Hurrah?
The comment about my left hand is, of course, a reference to January 11.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
014 Counting Sheep
The shirt.woot derby theme this week is Nightmares.
I've had four recurring nightmares that I can still vividly remember. The first one haunted me as a child - I would get lost in a sea of legs, separated from my family and helpless to find them again. The second locked me inside a dank, sullen labyrinth from which there was no escape; the labyrinth usually held some unknown creature of the shadows that would lurk just beyond the reach of the torchlight. These two nightmares don't hit me much anymore.
More recently, I often find myself having nightmares about school. Specifically, I discover that "today" is the day of a final exam for some random course (Biology is common, I think) in which I am registered. The catch is that I had somehow completely forgotten about the course from day one, neglecting to complete assignments or do the lab work, or know the material at all. In the midst of my panic, I wake up in a cold sweat.
The worst nightmare, however, concerns the loss of someone who means a lot to me. It's not so much scary as absolutely heart breaking. I feel terrible the next morning whenever that nightmare crawls through my head.
None of those nightmares translate well into a shirt that I could design.
So instead, I tried drawing some monstrous sheep. My favourite is the screamer, followed closely by the tongue-ram.
Since I wouldn't actually wear a shirt like this, I am disinclined to follow through on it. I think I'll just leave it as a sketch.
Hopefully I can continue sketching ideas for the derby each week, even if I don't take the design to completion. Fun stuff!
I've had four recurring nightmares that I can still vividly remember. The first one haunted me as a child - I would get lost in a sea of legs, separated from my family and helpless to find them again. The second locked me inside a dank, sullen labyrinth from which there was no escape; the labyrinth usually held some unknown creature of the shadows that would lurk just beyond the reach of the torchlight. These two nightmares don't hit me much anymore.
More recently, I often find myself having nightmares about school. Specifically, I discover that "today" is the day of a final exam for some random course (Biology is common, I think) in which I am registered. The catch is that I had somehow completely forgotten about the course from day one, neglecting to complete assignments or do the lab work, or know the material at all. In the midst of my panic, I wake up in a cold sweat.
The worst nightmare, however, concerns the loss of someone who means a lot to me. It's not so much scary as absolutely heart breaking. I feel terrible the next morning whenever that nightmare crawls through my head.
None of those nightmares translate well into a shirt that I could design.
So instead, I tried drawing some monstrous sheep. My favourite is the screamer, followed closely by the tongue-ram.
Since I wouldn't actually wear a shirt like this, I am disinclined to follow through on it. I think I'll just leave it as a sketch.
Hopefully I can continue sketching ideas for the derby each week, even if I don't take the design to completion. Fun stuff!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
011-013 Nails, Sonnet, Music
January 11: Fingernail art.
OK. Yeah. There's a lot of weird art out there, so this qualifies... right? Fingernails, each clipped in an entire piece. It's just something I do.
I took the photos myself. Having only two hands, the above image is actually composed of two photos. If my left hand looks a bit larger than the right, that's the reason. It's not just because I'm left-handed. ;)
The red mark on the knuckle of the middle finger of my right hand is a scar from my streetfighting days. Bare-knuckle boxing. Punching a wall? Fine, fine - I tripped on the stairs. ARE YOU HAPPY?
January 12: Petrarchan sonnet.
Her Eyes
How strange to see her eyes in novel frame!
But memories with Morpheus made new
Will yet retain the source in dreamt review:
So too her semblance shines with eyes the same.
And so he grew to love that sacred flame
That lights her eyes like Morning fills the dew -
Why must he then so seldomly pursue
The breaking dawn or heliacal claim?
'Tis fear and only fear that holds him fast;
"No more!" he says, but plying every trade
Of vision - scope and lens and pane and port -
He seeks her eyes, her light, the stars amassed,
The only constant source in shifting shade,
'Til finally he finds the sunlit court.
This poem is definitely not my best work. I decided to try something new - a Petrarchan sonnet. I've written several sonnets in the past, but mostly in the Shakespearean form. The unfamiliar rhyming scheme got to me, I think, and it didn't help that I was writing this late at night (the midnight deadline for MSCE is tough). I like my octave but I am not fond of the sestet. Might just be that I'm not a fan of the cdecde rhyme scheme of Petrarchan sonnets. The octave's abbaabba is alright.
January 13: Tone Matrix music.
Behold: the Tone Matrix! This fun little flash game lets you make very short music loops. A neat feature is that you can share creations by copying and pasting matrix coordinates (just right click on the matrix itself).
Here is my creation for today:
123650,8576,8200,1024,65760,0,78216,192,68612,8192,16612,19968,16416,19464,34306,33544
I realize that this is not the most innovative of things to do for MSCE, but it's pretty neat, kinda cool, and fairly quick to do. I'm somewhat busier than usual at the moment - it works, right? It's also fun.
Just for kicks, here are the various parts to the above loop.
Bass line:
122880,8192,8192,0,65536,0,77824,0,65536,8192,16384,16384,16384,16384,32768,32768
High notes:
2,0,8,0,0,0,8,0,4,0,4,0,32,8,2,8
Everything else:
768,384,0,1024,224,0,384,192,3072,0,224,3584,0,3072,1536,768
OK. Yeah. There's a lot of weird art out there, so this qualifies... right? Fingernails, each clipped in an entire piece. It's just something I do.
I took the photos myself. Having only two hands, the above image is actually composed of two photos. If my left hand looks a bit larger than the right, that's the reason. It's not just because I'm left-handed. ;)
The red mark on the knuckle of the middle finger of my right hand is a scar from my streetfighting days. Bare-knuckle boxing. Punching a wall? Fine, fine - I tripped on the stairs. ARE YOU HAPPY?
January 12: Petrarchan sonnet.
Her Eyes
How strange to see her eyes in novel frame!
But memories with Morpheus made new
Will yet retain the source in dreamt review:
So too her semblance shines with eyes the same.
And so he grew to love that sacred flame
That lights her eyes like Morning fills the dew -
Why must he then so seldomly pursue
The breaking dawn or heliacal claim?
'Tis fear and only fear that holds him fast;
"No more!" he says, but plying every trade
Of vision - scope and lens and pane and port -
He seeks her eyes, her light, the stars amassed,
The only constant source in shifting shade,
'Til finally he finds the sunlit court.
This poem is definitely not my best work. I decided to try something new - a Petrarchan sonnet. I've written several sonnets in the past, but mostly in the Shakespearean form. The unfamiliar rhyming scheme got to me, I think, and it didn't help that I was writing this late at night (the midnight deadline for MSCE is tough). I like my octave but I am not fond of the sestet. Might just be that I'm not a fan of the cdecde rhyme scheme of Petrarchan sonnets. The octave's abbaabba is alright.
January 13: Tone Matrix music.
Behold: the Tone Matrix! This fun little flash game lets you make very short music loops. A neat feature is that you can share creations by copying and pasting matrix coordinates (just right click on the matrix itself).
Here is my creation for today:
123650,8576,8200,1024,65760,0,78216,192,68612,8192,16612,19968,16416,19464,34306,33544
I realize that this is not the most innovative of things to do for MSCE, but it's pretty neat, kinda cool, and fairly quick to do. I'm somewhat busier than usual at the moment - it works, right? It's also fun.
Just for kicks, here are the various parts to the above loop.
Bass line:
122880,8192,8192,0,65536,0,77824,0,65536,8192,16384,16384,16384,16384,32768,32768
High notes:
2,0,8,0,0,0,8,0,4,0,4,0,32,8,2,8
Everything else:
768,384,0,1024,224,0,384,192,3072,0,224,3584,0,3072,1536,768
Sunday, January 10, 2010
008-010 Birds, birds, birds
So the last three days have followed a theme of sorts - Birds.
I'm working on something else, for which I need a bird. Some upcoming day I'll put more work into it and finish it off, at which point I'll post it for MSCE (it's not taboo to do something over multiple days, is it?). Because I was working on that project on January 8, I did not have much time left to do my actual MSCE for the day. And so...
Unfortunately, the origami bird is not suitable for my project. And that led to the Newspaper Bird of January 9:
The newspaper bird was made out of - you guessed it - newspaper. It's not even paper mache because I didn't use any sort of adhesive. I only used water. The beak is a pen tip and the legs are paper clips. Unfortunately, the newspaper bird won't work for the project either.
I have a new idea for the project which is not only much simpler but also a bit more clever. But that'll come up in the future.
MSCE for January 10 - we did a cooking contest thing at fellowship. The bird element - chicken.
We worked in teams. Honestly, my contributions were limited. I brought some canned cream of mushroom soup and opened said can. I helped mash potatoes (by hand, with a spoon). I watched over and flipped pieces of chicken as they cooked.
Surprisingly, our team won first place. The best cooking team did terrible at the first two challenges (food trivia and taste test) but our food was fine and we did ok in the earlier events. Woo!
My biggest contribution was (sadly) the naming of the dishes. The first dish is "The Eternal Question". It features chicken and egg. Get it? Yeah. I gave a bit of a speech to introduce it.
"When you sample this dish, you will have both a portion of chicken and a portion of the omelette. Close your eyes and select a piece at random. As you eat, ponder the age old question - what came first, the chicken or the egg (with bacon and cheese)?"
The second dish was named "Bounty of the Earth", derived from the French for potato "pomme de terre" (which literally translates to "apple of the earth"). It was so named because the centerpiece was a little mountain of mashed potatoes (very delicious!). We also had a vegetable medley and chicken with a creamy mushroom-spinach sauce. It was good.
I'm working on something else, for which I need a bird. Some upcoming day I'll put more work into it and finish it off, at which point I'll post it for MSCE (it's not taboo to do something over multiple days, is it?). Because I was working on that project on January 8, I did not have much time left to do my actual MSCE for the day. And so...
Unfortunately, the origami bird is not suitable for my project. And that led to the Newspaper Bird of January 9:
The newspaper bird was made out of - you guessed it - newspaper. It's not even paper mache because I didn't use any sort of adhesive. I only used water. The beak is a pen tip and the legs are paper clips. Unfortunately, the newspaper bird won't work for the project either.I have a new idea for the project which is not only much simpler but also a bit more clever. But that'll come up in the future.
MSCE for January 10 - we did a cooking contest thing at fellowship. The bird element - chicken.
We worked in teams. Honestly, my contributions were limited. I brought some canned cream of mushroom soup and opened said can. I helped mash potatoes (by hand, with a spoon). I watched over and flipped pieces of chicken as they cooked.
Surprisingly, our team won first place. The best cooking team did terrible at the first two challenges (food trivia and taste test) but our food was fine and we did ok in the earlier events. Woo!
My biggest contribution was (sadly) the naming of the dishes. The first dish is "The Eternal Question". It features chicken and egg. Get it? Yeah. I gave a bit of a speech to introduce it.
"When you sample this dish, you will have both a portion of chicken and a portion of the omelette. Close your eyes and select a piece at random. As you eat, ponder the age old question - what came first, the chicken or the egg (with bacon and cheese)?"
The second dish was named "Bounty of the Earth", derived from the French for potato "pomme de terre" (which literally translates to "apple of the earth"). It was so named because the centerpiece was a little mountain of mashed potatoes (very delicious!). We also had a vegetable medley and chicken with a creamy mushroom-spinach sauce. It was good.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
007 Petsuchos
The shirt.woot derby theme this week is Ancient Egypt. My idea was to do a design featuring petsuchos. "Petsuchos" means "son of Sobek (Suchos)". Mmm, crocodilian. In time, Sobek was seen as an avatar of Amun. The gods Amun and Ra (the sun god) eventually became Amun-Ra.
That's basically a roundabout way of linking crocodiles to the sun. In short, I wanted to draw a stylized croc wrapping around a stylized sun.
Of course, my drawing skillz being subpar as they are, I did not manage to get it to a good enough state that I'm willing to submit it. For the sake of MSCE, I'll post the sketch.
I had many, many problems.
1. I failed at the shape of the head.
2. I failed at positioning the legs properly (and completely gave up on the left hind leg).
3. It didn't look particularly Egyptian.
I'll stop now before I depress myself. :P
Hmm... looking at it now, it kind of reminds me of the Mortal Kombat logo. Bah!
That's basically a roundabout way of linking crocodiles to the sun. In short, I wanted to draw a stylized croc wrapping around a stylized sun.
Of course, my drawing skillz being subpar as they are, I did not manage to get it to a good enough state that I'm willing to submit it. For the sake of MSCE, I'll post the sketch.
I had many, many problems.
1. I failed at the shape of the head.
2. I failed at positioning the legs properly (and completely gave up on the left hind leg).
3. It didn't look particularly Egyptian.
I'll stop now before I depress myself. :P
Hmm... looking at it now, it kind of reminds me of the Mortal Kombat logo. Bah!
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
004-006 Fontificate
The verb "fontificate" is like the word "pontificate". But with fonts.
For today's "something cool", I followed Ressa and created a font out of my writing. It is not nearly as pretty as hers. Screenshot from the font file is below!
In other news, you may have noticed that I've been missing some days. I've been doing things, just not announcing them. You may notice that the graphics on this blog are slowly changing...
For today's "something cool", I followed Ressa and created a font out of my writing. It is not nearly as pretty as hers. Screenshot from the font file is below!
In other news, you may have noticed that I've been missing some days. I've been doing things, just not announcing them. You may notice that the graphics on this blog are slowly changing...
Sunday, January 03, 2010
003 Vertices
So yeah... turns out I'm not doing a layout thing today. I had an idea for the current shirt.woot derby (Things That Start with the Letter V) so I decided to enter something, thus breaking a months-long hiatus.
Here is an abstract design featuring 17 triangles (and 26 circles). Woo!
Here is an abstract design featuring 17 triangles (and 26 circles). Woo!
Saturday, January 02, 2010
002 Graphics
Over the next few days I'll be the layout of this blog, piece by piece (edit: unless some other inspiration strikes that day, of course). I probably won't post daily, but I'll still be doing something daily.
Yeah. Ok. :P
Yeah. Ok. :P
Friday, January 01, 2010
001 Auld Lang Syne
Happy new year! This blog will be empty no longer. For the year of 2010, I am going to attempt to do something cool everyday. The definition of "cool" will be loose. Very loose.
Already I fear that this is going to be something very difficult for me. I'm already struggling, and this is just the first day.
My first entry is not as awesome as I'd like it to be. Honestly, it is sort of a filler piece - a simple photo simply modified, with a simple quatrain. I was with friends during the countdown to 2010, watching the celebration (in Toronto?) on TV. In the first few minutes of the new decade, we heard the people begin to sing Auld Lang Syne. I realized that I didn't really know what the song was about. It's actually quite interesting. So that's the background here.
For what it's worth to myself, I have something much better for today - a song. However, I worked it all out last week (too early for MSCE!) and I don't have any good way of recording. Can't play any instrument well enough anyway. Maybe one of these days I'll figure that out. Maybe.
Cheers.
Already I fear that this is going to be something very difficult for me. I'm already struggling, and this is just the first day.
My first entry is not as awesome as I'd like it to be. Honestly, it is sort of a filler piece - a simple photo simply modified, with a simple quatrain. I was with friends during the countdown to 2010, watching the celebration (in Toronto?) on TV. In the first few minutes of the new decade, we heard the people begin to sing Auld Lang Syne. I realized that I didn't really know what the song was about. It's actually quite interesting. So that's the background here.
For what it's worth to myself, I have something much better for today - a song. However, I worked it all out last week (too early for MSCE!) and I don't have any good way of recording. Can't play any instrument well enough anyway. Maybe one of these days I'll figure that out. Maybe.
Cheers.
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