I Totally Forgot

So, part-way inspired by some strange thought I had while on lunch break today, and part-way inspired by the MS-Paint comics that Kate Beaton does…

So I’ve got pretty much all of my pre-packing cleaning done, and a good portion of the actual packing as well. My room is more or less reduced to piles of recycling, garbage, and things left to put into boxes and tubs. I actually have less stuff left over than I originally thought I would… I bought 3 large plastic tubs for storage as a conservative estimate, but I might not even need the third one. I guess I’ve been pretty ruthless when it comes to throwing stuff out… my closet has been pretty much the exact same for the last 15 or so years, even through different houses. It seemed like my closet simply existed in the same state no matter what. Needless to say, there’s a lot of stuff in there I haven’t seen for a long time, and a lot of stuff that regardless how much I want to be a pack rat, I just can’t justify keeping. Although I did give in and keep my remote control Corvette… but the headlights flip up! How cool is that!

Sifting through the strata in my closet has given me a glimpse of just how much I’ve grown up over the last decade or so. It’s such a gradual process, but when you come across these kinds of relics, it provides you a kind of snapshot view of your old self. Unfortunately, due to the rosy glasses of nostalgia, you also start thinking about old traits of yours that you miss. Especially if you are looking at the things you’ve kept over the years… those are the parts you specifically wanted to remember.

I really hope that I’ll be able to pick up drawing again once I’m down in Vancouver. I stopped doing it actively about 4 years ago, due to certain circumstances at the time. Even after those circumstances passed, I still found myself drifting further and further away from visual arts. Whether or not it is simply something inevitable, or maybe it is due to some lingering moods, I am really hoping my fresh start in Vancouver will snap me out of it. I will also not be able to drum as much (I doubt my landlords would appreciate it much), so perhaps I’ll then need an alternate creative outlet.

I also came across a picture that was drawn by a friend in a “Paint Chat”, and was saved and later printed out by a different friend for my birthday. It made me smile.

Also also, I discovered my trench coat now has a mysterious stain on it, even though it has been doing nothing but sitting in my closet for the last year. What a bummer! How does one even go about cleaning a suede leather jacket? Perhaps it is dry cleanable? Also I really must look into whether or not it is possible to get it fitted. Even without a mysterious stain, it’s still far too big for me to wear.

So, I am breaking my period of silence to update with the fact that I am now officially moving to Vancouver. I went and checked some places out this weekend, and put a damage deposit down on one in Coquitlam. It’s pretty awesome.
Also awesome, is I will be able to continue doing work for my current job even after I move, so that gets rid of the added hassle of finding new work, at least right away. I am scheduled to move March 1st, so now I have a ton of cleaning and stuff to get done between now and then.

Also cool, is when down in Vancouver with Shauna, I picked up “Wreck This Journal”. If you don’t know what it is (I didn’t until today), This Link might help.
I’m saving it until I move; I want it to be part of a “fresh start” sort of thing. I am hoping that it will help me regain some of the creativity I’ve lost over the years. Or maybe just make me look at some things a bit differently. At the very least it will be fun.

Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing has been blown just a little bit out of proportion? Aside from the original intended importance of his position (Which was much lower than they make it out to be today), I think that no person should be perceived as worth so much more than anyone else. The lengths they go to for these men is simply absurd.

So what is new? Not much is new!

Things are going well with the band. Next week I’m going to go over to Gareth’s, and instead of practicing, we’re going to go through each song and start to give it structure. That way we will hopefully start to get our act together more quickly, and I will also have a base to work on when I practice at home. Also, “Since I’ve Been Loving You” is so much fun to drum to.

I’ve started doing some art again. I always have a hard time thinking up ideas that I actually want to draw, so I’ve taken an old picture I did in black and white, and I’m trying a new way of colouring. I’m attempting to use a base colour other than white (I’m doing it on a sepia-ish background), and I’m also going to attempt to do the whole thing without any lines; just colour. It’s going pretty well so far… but I definitely need to work on hair. It’s much more difficult to do in this style than what I’m used to. Shauna has also “commissioned” a few works from me… I really should get to work on those!

The wonderful and magnificent Shauna has informed me that I have been tagged. I don’t think that it is fatal, but only time will tell.

I have been informed that the one possible cure is to relate 6 random facts about myself, of which I have not yet blogged. Yes I know it seems a bit far fetched, but I’m ready to try anything.

1. I am a compulsive souvenir-er.
   This is something I realized while I began to clean out my room on the weekend. I actually had to stop myself from keeping things that would otherwise be garbage, but could be considered “souvenirs” from different things. Not even cool souvenirs though, like… my old uniform from working at Wendy’s.
2. I haven’t cried in a very very long time
   I guess I’m kind of like that girl from The Holiday. It’s been at least a couple years.
3. Pie is pretty much my favorite thing ever.
   Apple pie, to be more specific. Good apple pie to be even more specific. Granted, okay apple pie is still better than no apple pie, but it makes me kind of sad to know that something could have been so good, but could not live up to its potential.
4. I have no qualms in making a self referencing list item
   Oh yeah, that’s right, I went there. I just used the topic of the list to add to the list. Hooray for recursion. That’s just how I roll.
5. I wish I could dress like I was in the 1920’s
   I… honestly can’t explain this one.
6. If I could be anything in the world…
   It would probably be an astronaut. Still. Ever since I was a little kid, and I still think it would be the most amazing thing ever. I still have “Leave the Earth’s atmosphere” on my life’s to-do list.

Also, apparently if I want the cure to be fully effective, I must recite the following verses:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they are tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

And seriously, I don’t even know 6 people with blogs, so here is two:
1. ThunderBlossom
2. Calypte

Greetings, people of 2009.  I trust your holiday festivities went well?  I wouldn’t say that this year was the absolute most exciting thing ever, but most of the time high excitement has unpleasant side effects, so I am happy to say that my holidays have been a solid “well above average” the whole way through.

There was Christmas, where I got a lot of very thoughtful and useful gifts, and got to spend the day with family, which was great as always.  Even though our routine is almost the exact same every single year (almost down to the minute), it never gets old.  One thing that has changed, though, is now my sister actually has to wake me up in the morning.

Christmas night Shauna came down, and she stayed until the 30th, when we drove back to Kamloops for New Year’s Eve.  It was a really good visit, I thought, and I’m glad we weren’t at each other’s throats by the end of the 7 days.  There was one day when we had a hard time thinking of anything to do, but that wasn’t even that terrible.  I do think though, that we are both pretty much shopped out for a little while.

So now I am back home, and hopefully I will be able to motivate myself to clean my room a bit before the break is over.  It really is getting out of hand in there.  Unfortunately, I also have some work-related stuff that I have to get done before I go back, which is one of the consequences of taking such a long break.  The world does not stop just because our office is closed.

Also I am planning on writing a program to solve a certain type of puzzle that Shauna got.  I’m not sure if she left it here, but I can still do it just the same.  Essentially the puzzle is a 9×9 grid with flat sides on each puzzle piece, and similar patterns matching each edge.  In the case of the one Shauna got, there is either a top or a bottom of a turtle on each edge.  There’s 4 different turtles altogether, and some appear twice on the same piece.  The tricky part is that each piece could potentially be in any place, because there are no defined “edges”.
On a similar note, I also am writing out plans to write a program which will “learn” to write new programs.  I might write some about this later, but probably not for a few posts.  Shauna complains when I write too many “boring” posts.

Now here’s something fun: http://alteredqualia.com/visualization/evolve/

So I’ve been playing around with this most of today.  Basically it takes a 200×200 pixel image, and starts using random iterations of polygons to try and get closer and closer to reproducing the original.  It starts off with 50 invisible polygons, and begins cycling through them, changing their shape and/or colour.  It then computes if the change makes the composition closer to the original image.  If it does, it keeps the change, if not it discards it.  Repeat this a million times, and it actually does a pretty damn good job.

So considering what I do for my job, I thought I might be useful and start sharing useful things I find along the way.  It’s almost a weekly occurrance that I come across something that makes me go “Why haven’t I been doing this for the last 6 months?”

I’ll put this behind a fold, for those who really couldn’t care less.

(more…)

Fun and simple song to play, but it gives you a damn good leg workout.  Good for working on fast single kicks.

    1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a
HH  x   x   x   x x x   x   x   x x
SN          x               x
K   x   x x   x     x   x x   x