Too Tired to Post (Legitimately)

...must catch up on sleep...

"I'm Only Sleeping" - The Beatles

Posts for the Future

This is kind of a cop-out post, but I suppose it's better than nothing. Basically, these are some entries I definitely plan to post in the future:

A Tribute to the Nostalgia Critic - Doug Walker as the Nostalgia Critic has become one of my new top comedy acts in recent times, and I'd like to formally review and thank him.


What's Wrong with Tara Strong? - An examination of Tara Strong, a voice actress I once idolized, and her career, which I believe has, artistically, gotten nowhere, reaching an all-time low with the horrid Drawn Together.


Pixar's Nihilism, or When Random Equals Entertainment - Really just a response to Prof. Thomas Hibbs' writing on nihilism and pop culture, and how it just may apply to Pixar's latest films, among other movies.

Artistic Progress as Demonstrated by the Beatles - There's no way around the fact that the Beatles were the greatest band in the world, and rightly so. Their career is the perfect role model for the development and experimentation of true artists.

Of course, I still intend to post at least once a day, and obviously I can't produce a solid, in-depth entry like any of those I proposed in just a day. The interim will be filled with hopefully useful or entertaining things. Here's looking to the future once again!

Back from School Retreat; Feeling Great

I just got back from one of the best experiences of my life. Our school retreat is something I can't talk about much here (it's between us brothers), but I can say that my mind has cleared and become enlightened. I certainly want to make new changes. For example, I have recognized my porn addiction and am taken the steps to control it. Also, I may have ADD, and will take special measures to assure that I don't lose track of everything as I did before. Now my grandmother, a professional nurse, is sure I do not have ADD, because she's dealt with much worse cases. Fair enough, and I trust her, and these special measures can aid my general forgetfulness anyway.

There's too much I need to write about, and I will never find time to write unless I'm writing constantly. That's fine by me.

As for life and everything else, it's all about getting closer to God and to others, whether it be through art or real life interaction. Let's hope it's more of the latter, and let's hope I find a better name for it.

Being the Old Man, Appreciating What I Have

I am not as grateful as I should be. I am alive, I have millions of opportunities ahead of me that others would kill to have had. I am going to use them. I am going to get out of this nihilistic and apathetic funk and still caring about things. I shouldn't be despairing over the gloominess of my past, I should be out smiling at the bright sun in the sky. I should be out meeting girls, and so what I don't marry them, they are gifts from God, and I should cherish their presence and stop trying so hard to be a "spouse." I need to start drawing everything, learning everything, doing many more things, seeing many new sights, going to many new places, because this won't all be here forever, and there's no guarantee that I'll even be around tomorrow to live another day. I need to start loving things for their own sake and not just for how they benefit me personally--don't be like Walt Disney in that respect (thanks, Michael Barrier!).

I fancy that older people have a greater appreciation for life because their time is almost over. The little things matter to them. And if I should truly take in anything from the old timers, it's to live life to the fullest. At seventeen, I have already wasted enough time being introverted and defensive for fear of the pain and suffering life brings. For if I can't take suffering, joy and happiness are meaningless.

Thanks to the Rauch Bros. Animation for inspiring this epiphany.

Finally found this song - "Photograph" by Ringo Starr

I never knew who sang it or what the lyrics were, let alone that it was written by two former Beatles. But I loved the vocals and the melody. Finally, thanks to a lucky random find on Grooveshark's radio system, I found it, and it's a beautiful song! In fact, it's an almost perfect tribute to the two Quarrymen who have gone on. Thanks, Richard Starkey.

"Photograph" - Ringo Starr

Finally getting animated!

Yesterday, I performed my first successful animation test with the Toon Boom Studio program at school.

It is a ball bouncing--that was the idea at least--and with nine actual drawings and sixteen total "cels" at 24 fps, it looks OK. It's a start. When I return to school, I'll import it onto my Youtube account--why not?--to save my progress as I do more tests. Hopefully each one is more sophisticated than the next.

In the mean time, under the indirect influence of Michael Barrier, I freely downloaded and read through Acting: the First Six Lessons by Richard Boleslavsky, the book utilized by the great Disney animator Bill Tytla. Now on a second read, I find the book absolutely fascinating, its lessons and advice building within me a much more performance-conscious mind as far as acting and writing goes. A particularly brilliant analogy of how art is like a tree has made the writing/filmmaking process a lot clearer. I can't wait to go through the book again, anymore than I can wait to start training, learning, and applying that knowledge to future animations. I've already gotten a first marginal success--though to be honest, the ball doesn't look like it's bouncing so much as being dragged up and down by some invisible force--now I need to busy if I want to make some kind of career out of animation when I leave college. In addition to many personal problems being resolved (I should really write about them), I am much more hopeful for the future.

Starting to Learn Animation

My school finally got the Toon Boom Studios program, so I now I can seriously start working on animating. I remember asking the technology head to order the program for the Art Department, and thank God he remembered to order. I can't wait to use the program so I can get a head start before college.

Obviously, like any skill, it won't come easily. The technology skills will gradually arise, but more importantly, my personality needs to improve. I need to be more observant and extroverted so I can experience life more fully. When I do this, I'll be more well-rounded and can actually contribute my own output to humanity. A problem I have now is that I can sit down to draw, but more often than not, my mind will be blank. I'll have nothing to say. That's a problem I need to fix.

According to Hayao Miyazaki and artist Moebius (as he calls himself) believe that world perception and technique are interconnected. My perception must be very weak, for I can only draw lone human figures, and not very well. I need to branch out into other areas...