Nerdroditie

Hello everyone

I haven't been on Deviantart much lately. Work has been busy and when I'm not at work or being sociable, I've been working on a new novel. It was supposed to be a novella, but then it go longer. It's short and unlike anything else I have ever written, but I find it is using up most of my time and creativity. And you know what, I'm not really complaining. It's nearly finished and I think it'll be good. This schedule has kept me from making visual artwork, but maybe I'll share some of my short stories on this site in the future.

I'm taking a break from my ERB card project, and instead have started a new project. A series inspired by both modern Sci-Fi movies and 1940's SF pulp magazines. Unfortunately, the first entry in this series is requiring a lot more time and detail than I imagined, so it might be a while before I post it.

Now that I might be having a bit more time on my hands, I'll try to be on DA more often. In the meantime though, I've just got to jettison all the notifications that have built up over the past few months. Sorry about that.

So stay tuned... hopefully this time, I will stay on for a while and put up more content. Hopefully.    

Well, it's been an interesting couple of months since I last posted an update. These been a few good things happen, and a few bad things. I'll start with the good ones first.

My new job is going well. I'm working in a chicken factory, which isn't something I've ever envisioned myself doing, but it's going alright. Everyone seems nice, and the money is great. It's not full time, but it's taken off a lot of the money worries I've been having. Of course, I now have less time to work on art, but with less stress I'm getting lots of ideas, and I feel that what I have been doing is really good.

I'm also getting close to finishing my novel, Eternity on Lastavivan. I've been working on it for a while, and it's great seeing it all come together. Maybe I'll post some samples or something. I definitely will need to do some maps and stuff soon.

Now let's get to some of the bad news.

My beautiful cat Simba, who some of you may remember from my journal a few months back, died earlier this month. He went peacefully, but still, I was pretty devo about it. He was 19 and a half years old and is deeply missed.

If you read my Description for my Edgar Allan Poe card, you'll know the other piece of bad news. I crashed my car on Woy Woy road three days ago. It spun out, went into oncoming traffic, hit another car and then ended up in the bush. Not sure how it happened, but I'm so glad I was able to walk away from that and that no-one was hurt. I had to go to hospital after the incident, but I have no lasting injuries. Everything should be back to normal soon. Except my car is a total write off. The boot is just gone. It looks like the insurance company will pay for everything, but still, I really liked my car. My little Quey. Oh well, cars are replaceable. I'm not.

So, I have a lot to keep busy with over the next few weeks. Hopefully that'll also include a few new ERB cards.  

Well, the bi-monthly journal thingy didn't last long. But than again, I've just been so busy over the past two months that I haven't really been able to do much of anything on Deviant art lately.

What was I busy with exactly? Well there was Christmas, New Years... having a cold over New Years, second Christmas (couldn't meet up with friends to exchange gifts until half way through January) my birthday, car rego, starting a new work for the dole activity... lots of things to keep me occupied. Second Christmas in particular was really fun. Normally we just do a Secret Santa, but this year we did Secret Santa and a Secret Grinch; in other words, everyone got a real present and a joke gift. Ahh fun times. Oh yeah, I might be getting a new job soon, which will mean more money and hopefully less stress.

So now that things have settled, what's next? I've started drawing the next lot of sketches for the ERB portraits. Did you miss them? It's all Wright, they'll stop nevermore. It's really fun going back and drawing people again. Though I might have another break soon and work on a new project for a while. I think I mentioned a Pokemon inspired one I've been thinking of, but I also have an idea for another sciencey series. One that focuses more on geology than biology this time.

Keep watching this page, because stuff is going to be posted soon.   

Well, it's halfway through October, so I guess my idea to do a journal every month on the first isn't quite so sure. I guess it's just a matter of being really busy with non-art stuff. 

Over the past few weeks I've been watching a lot of Wil Wheaton's Tabletop on Youtube. I like playing tabletop games with my friends, and that show has introduced me to a lot of other board games I want to try out. While using my laptop to talk to my boyfriend about this show, my cat Squeak tried to climb all over me, but he was so cute I let him sit on as much as my lap as he could. It occurred to me that cats get away with a lot of naughty behaviour just because they are cute. Which gave me an idea for a board game which I have been working on.

Speaking of cats, my other cat Simba turned 19 back in September. which is 92 in cat years. Simba was my 6th Birthday present, and I can barely remember a time in my life without him. When you buy a cat or a dog, you truly are buying them for life. Interesting story about Simba; he is a purebreed Korat. The Korat is a breed from Thailand with a fully grey coat and bright green eyes. However at some point in time, they were cross-bred with the more familiar Siamese. Even though the cross-breeding was a long time ago, occasionally throwback kittens will be born. Simba is one such throwback; he has the blue eyes and white and grey coat of a Siamese. I think this genetic quirk from my favourite pet was what first sparked my interest in Biology.

I also finished re-reading the Harry Potter series early in August. Such a great series; I love the movies, but for exploring the Potterverse, nothing beats the books. And what about this news that there are going to be three new movies based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? Three spin off movies set in New York in the 1920s. I'm pretty excited about that

Art wise, I have finished drawing the next set of five sketches. I'll be finishing them soon. Speaking of Epic Rap Battles of History... the new season will be out on November 10, and it's been strongly hinted that the first new battle will be Mythbusters vs Ghostbusters. I'm looking forward to drawing both teams.
 I also have another idea for a new project I'll do between sketches. Something that'll involve designing emblems, kinda like my Kingdoms of Life project, but involving 18 pieces that should be meaningful to any pokemon fans out there.

So, I guess that's all. And looks like I finished this journal just in time for the end of The Block auction. Perfect timing.

See you next time everyone.

EDIT: Damn, how could I forgotten this? Oh well, I guess that's what I get for watching TV while writing. Earlier in September, I went to see Protest The Hero at the Manning Bar in Sydney. Awesome band, and it was an awesome show. The energy was great, and Rody Walker talked quite a bit between songs. One such monologue resulted in some guy in the mosh pit getting up on stage and doing a front-flip into the crowd. That was a really great night out  


   

Hello again everyone. I know I said I'd try and update my journal every month, but I think bi-monthly might be better. I did actually come here at the end of June to post a journal, but then decided I'd wait until I made some headway on my new project before I made another entry.

    So yeah, new project, and it's one that I doubt I'll ever finish. Some of you may have guessed that I really like science and biology, but I also love history too. I've been thinking for a while of combining my love of history with my desire to get better at drawing people by doing portraits of historical people. But, I wasn't really sure who I wanted to draw or what style. That was, until I found my new favourite Youtube show, Epic Rap Battles of History. I'm not usually that fond of rap music, but I love this show. The music is catchy, the costumes and make-up are great, and the material is well researched and very clever. check them out here www.youtube.com/channel/UCMu5g… but be warned, this show has some naughty language.
    Basically, my new project is ERB fanart; making cards for all the 'rappers' who have been featured in the show. I've been using a random number generator to pick an episode, and then drawing one of the characters from that episode. So far I have made cards of; Bruce Lee, Darth Vader, Nikola Tesla, Stephen King and Lady Gaga. It's been a lot of fun, and I'm already starting on the next lot of five. But of course if you don't like my cards or just have no interest in history or ERB, then that's okay. I'll still be taking photos and doing the semi-regular digital paintings too.

    Well that's about it on the visual art front; I haven't written any new stories and work on my novel is going slow. I've still been keeping busy; except for that week I had a really bad cold and just stayed in bed playing Prof. Layton (fun game .)  I went to Vivid Festival with Zumad. For those who don't know, Vivid is an annual event in Sydney where there are lot of light shows and displays all around the harbor and George Street. The Opera House was the highlight; different animations and designs were being projected onto it all night. Good night out; lot's of fun and I'm thinking I'll try and go again next year.

        
    Well, I think that's probably enough for now. I'll go post up those cards now and I'll be back here in another two months. Maybe.