Category: Nightly Update

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Screaming In Code

At an early point in my professional life, there was a near-parable floating around the Internet.  According to this tale, there was a programmer at a job interview.  This programmer told his potential employer, “I dream in code.”  Those four words were said to have set him apart from his competition and won him the job.

I have been pushing myself to remember things.  These things were lost to the day-to-day life of being a grown-up.  They were lost to my regrets of having not acted in favor of what I believed was a more patient, long-term commitment to myself.  So I have been trying to remember.

I remember one year, the thing I wanted more than anything else for Christmas a copy of Borland’s C+ Compiler.  I lost many Friday nights to a beat up, cigarette-stained computer and learned to chip away pieces of code, one function at a time.   Continue reading “Screaming In Code”

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A Handwritten Bible of an Apocalypse

I re-started some notes. I’m surprised he isn’t dead after everything they did to him.

I had a nightmare around two years ago.  In this dream, I beaten and arrested over something trivial.  Nothing this depraved has ever actually happened to me.  Situations close enough to it have occurred.  The police did not join in the festivities, but they did nothing to stop them.

Two years ago, that nightmare inspired my first vision of this Apocalypse.  That bad dream would not only inspire a lot of notes for a story that never took off but would be a crucial element of this adventurer’s journey.  The only problem was that it was an aimless journey.  I knew what I wanted to say but had no reason to say it through this character or the world built around him.

The time between that first attempt and now has been wonderful in that I have made a lot of great friends.  I have been finding strengths I thought were lost to the worst of times.   Continue reading “A Handwritten Bible of an Apocalypse”

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What a Weekend!

Well, I want a place other than Facebook or Twitter to let this summary go.  Facebook will eventually pull this post into my Notes on their site, but that really doesn’t phase me right now.  I just have to get it off my chest.

What a weekend.

My USB MIDI interface arrived on Friday.  By Saturday night, I had drum patterns going from FLStudio to my electronic drums in real time.  Thus, the $8 cable allowed my existing equipment to turn into a rather nice sounding if slightly dumb drum machine.  So, now I can have drums, Kaossilator, and Monotron all going at the same time to improvise electronic music.

Also, I can still play the drums while the MIDI information is being fed into it.  Awesome.  Just remember that you can’t say “polyphony” without “fun.”

Arts and crafts in the real world!  I stopped by the big-name chain store on Saturday for supplies.  Felt, fabric cloth, and (supposedly) clear blank stickers for my printer.  I printed up four copies of my Riddle symbol.  One for my drums, two for my electronic music toolbox, and one for my laptop.  I also made a copy of that symbol on felt to hang during my video / horror show.

The video show was fun for me to do this week.  I had the compressor working really nicely, but the software lied about just where my volume levels were.  The software said 60%.  The truth was more like 120%.  Damn it all.  But, the story meant a lot to me in a lot of ways, and I took my first step toward bringing conceptual continuity into the project.

Told everyone on Facebook that I was happily re-watching Necromentia.  The director commented to say thanks.  I now suggest you watch both Necromentia and the Gene Generation.

I also started work on finishing the human figure in a current project to draw the Major Arcana in my own sort of interpretation.  There is no overriding theme.  Simply trying to draw them as they might apply to my own life and journeys.

Been chatting with Lords of Acid on Twitter about seeing them in March.  At the same time, a former co-worker texted me about seeing Lords of Acid in March.  I might have to go see Lords of Acid in March.  Now the question is: do I dig my “Our Little Secret” tour shirt out of storage?

Anyway.. wow.  What a weekend.

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Impromptu Balloon Gig

The neighbor invited us to a birthday party that he was throwing for… well… I don’t know.  But the kid looked to be younger than 10.

Having no present but wanting to contribute, I brought my bag of sculpting balloons and both of my travel pumps.  They both broke.  I ran back to the house to get my Coleman air-mattress inflating pump.  Hey, whatever works.

At one point there were about two dozen kids in a moonwalk laughing and playing with balloon swords that I made for them.  It felt GREAT.  The neighbors asked if I wanted to be paid for it — no.  I wanted to make the kid’s party better.  I wanted the experience of working in front of a crowd.  I spent about $4 on balloons to do both, and a fun time was had by all.

I also practiced doing magic in the main lobby at the Texas Association of Magicians conference about a month ago.  It’s an ongoing fight against stage fright — and one I think I’m winning very well.

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Updates

Alright.  I haven’t dear-diaried in a while.    Here goes.

Magic

I enjoy stage magic a lot more.  I still suck at (some card stuff), but I can do one well enough.  More importantly, I can pull one off (sometimes).  But that’s not what’s important.

I really finally feel like I’m making friends through the magic (community).  I’m edging closer to the things I loved watching as a kid.  I’m happier this way, too.

Music

This site used to be a showcase for my music ! Well, here goes!

The above was conceived, composed, and filmed in a 24 hour span.   Some of it sucks.  I’m strangely proud of the rest.

Fiction

Every time I finish a story, the market for that genre closes due to an overabundance of submissions. That’s alright. I’ll just stockpile the finished pieces and submit when the chances open up again.

Perversions of Reason

I like tarot cards. I don’t believe in any forces behind them. To me, they are 78 or so beautifully crafted pieces of pasteboard given really vague adjectives. I like to use those adjectives to pick my own brain when writer’s block strikes.

Tarot cards also seem to make some happy balance between my vices. Magic (cards). Fantasy (divination). Creativity (writing tools).

In summary

I don’t even remember the last time I tasted a drop of alcohol. The only TV I watch is boxed sets of Friday the 13th: The Series to help me fall asleep. It’s not that I don’t have any vices. Mine just happen to be very productive vices.

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Nightly Update April 29, 2010

Well, I’m writing about these William Malone movies.  It’s becoming clear to me that I know nearly nothing about writing a readable review.

Learning how to do it properly can simply be the next great adventure.  That is, I mean, between the family, job, magic practice, and writing fiction.

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More of the GeoCities Migration

The biggest reason I had for clearing out the Geocities space was to keep my Downtown Nowhere pages alive.

Downloading the files to a separate folder then uploading them by FTP to their new home was a breeze.  Getting Google and Yahoo and the other search engines to see that the pages have a newhome was going to be more difficult.

For the time being, I’m taking the advice of this artice: How to Deal with the Geocities Closure.  I will also try to report back after a few weeks have passed.

Finally, I may create a new section of this site to host my old page, just for laughs and nostalgia.

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Nail Care

Today marks nine consecutive days without biting my nails.  This is a new record.

This really hit home to me during a recent meeting, when my finger nails were chewed short and the cuticles were shredded all apart.  That would no longer do.

What follows is just a little self-congratulation.  Most of the worst is showing considerable improvement.  My wife is offering me a manicure once everything has grown out well enough.

Continue reading “Nail Care”

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Today Was Film Geek Day

A filmmaker in Detroit asked me to put together some “interview yourself” footage, as I can’t actually make it to Michigan to let them do it.

I just finished filming everything, and will send this to them tomorrow afternoon.

The last two days have been the kind of thrill ride that makes life wonderful.  Long, long days, big projects ahead, big ones behind, and wonderful times.