My mom was in town yesterday and invited me out to lunch with her, my aunts, and my grandma. Since I was at work and my Aunt Vicky works nearby I suggested Chili’s. It was nice to see everyone and I had one of those moments where I felt like a ‘grown-up’, maybe because my mother started in on the not-so-subtle “when are you going to get married” talk. Even though I’m only *cough* 27, it is one of those things you have to start thinking about if you ever plan on having a family. I’m one of those people who have always wanted children of my own, so I think about it pretty often and lately more in the “I need to start seriously thinking about it and making decisions” way. Making decisions is essential to life. Even deciding to defer decision-making is a decision in itself.
General
16
Nov 04
Learn-ding
With every new project I learn something. Every time I have a vision of how a project should turn out I keep trying different tactics until the desired result is achieved. Having to try a bunch of different things is frustrating but also very rewarding when you have a breakthrough moment. Last night when I was working on something I figured out a couple of things that are probably obvious to millions of other people. Namely:
- Blending two layers using a layer mask in Photoshop
- The utility of saving swatches of color and storing them with the base files
The strategies you learn get added to your mental arsenal like wads of gum. You won’t need to learn the same things twice. Websites like CreativeBits are a big help. My next goal is to master Adobe Illustrator.
08
Nov 04
Propaganda claims
Eventually, the Iraqis will eject the Americans from their country. The fact is, they live there and we don’t, so victory will eventually be theirs. Until then, it’s just a stalemate. I think it’s ironic when the Americans make claims against the other side’s propaganda since there has never been a more media-aware American military intervention. I found the following passage revealing:
One key reason to take Fallujah hospital early was likely to control information: The facility was the main source of Iraqi death tolls during the first U.S. siege of Fallujah in April, and U.S. commanders accused doctors there of exaggerating numbers.
The U.S military said Monday that insurgents had been in control of Fallujah General Hospital — located on the west bank of the Euphrates — and were “forcing the doctors there to release propaganda and false information.”
The media has lauded the ‘capture’ of the Fallujah hospital as a win for the Iraqis fighting “shoulder to shoulder” with the Americans, specifically this refers to Iraqi 36th Commando Battalion. The Americans use the brown-skins to put an “Iraqi face” on the assault on Fallujah. Who are the 36th Commando Battalion?
“The 36th was originally known as the ‘political battalion,'”
he said. That’s because it was formed from the militias of five major
political groups in Iraq: Iyad Alwai’s Iraq National Accord (INA), Ahmed Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress (INC), the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which backs Ayatollah Ali Sistani, and the two main Kurdish groups, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). About 110 soldiers were originally culled from each group.
This group isn’t representative of Iraq. They are splinter groups who have an interest in gaining more power in Iraq. When you have 10,000 American soldiers and a few hundred Iraqi mercenaries leading the assault, it’s clear who’s in charge. More importantly, it’s clear that the Americans do not have the support of the Iraqi people on the ground.
05
Nov 04
The Incredibles
The company rented a screen at the Barton Creek AMC theatre today for everyone at work to watch the debut of Pixar’s new animated film, The Incredibles. We were able to bring a guest, so I brought Jody with me and she really enjoyed it. The Incredibles was …incredible. It seems like Pixar gets better with everything they do and it didn’t hurt that they enlisted the talents of Brad Bird, the man responsible for The Iron Giant. While I was watching it, I kept thinking how amazing it would be to be involved in something like that. To nurture a project from idea to reality over the course of 3 years. It is rare to see a group of individuals who are so focused on producing work of true quality. It is awe-inspiring. Real quality takes tremendous discipline and talent to achieve and when you see something done right, you can’t help but feel a large measure of respect for those responsible.
04
Nov 04
Bits
I’m trying to be more concise with my entries. Here are some notes:
- Cool thing: Paypal debit card pays 1.5% cashback when you use it at point-of-sale locations when you use it as a credit card.
- I had another job interview today for a production artist job here at work. I think it went okay. We shall see. I applied for it with little notice and had to put together a portfolio of work. Eventually I’ll find something really cool to do.
- Breen’s mom has a blog. I’m waiting to see if her husband is the new sheriff of Archer City.
02
Nov 04
Vote!
Vote! You’ll be glad/mad/sad that you did!!
“We’d all like t’vote fer th’best man, but he’s never a candidate.”—Frank McKinney (Kin) Hubbard
“Democracy will prevail when men believe the vote of Judas as good as that of Jesus Christ.”—Thomas Carlyle
29
Oct 04
gmail exploit
All gmail users should be aware of the potential for a gmail exploit. Described here.
28
Oct 04
Graffitti Fairy
The graffitti fairy has paid me a visit for the second time this week. Whoever it is, their tag says something like “Bender” or “Gender”. Maybe Gender Bender? This time they did the large tag as usual on the left panel with the two underlining marks, and then a smaller tag I couldn’t make out on the right panel. I took a minute to paint it over before I went to work. Since this is now the sixth time this has happened I don’t even get upset. Sooner or later, one of us will have to stop and it won’t be me. I’m going to figure out some way to catch whoever it is so I can dispense some sweet Justice(tm).
Other things worth noting, I watched most of season three of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”, the most insane show I’ve seen in a long time. I laughed so hard that the back of my head, where some of the face muscles attach, started to hurt.
22
Oct 04
I voted today
I voted today and the whole thing pissed me off. The only sense of certainty I possessed was in voting against the commuter rail business. I’m typically unsupportive of any kind of large public expenditure, and especially so if it mainly benefits people in Leander. A train from Leander to downtown Austin seems idiotic.
I’m also very tired of people trying to convince me of their various points of view. I now realize how completely obnoxious I must have been back in 2000 when I tried to convert as many people as possible to my own viewpoint, completely convinced I had it all figured out. In day to day matters of politics and religion, I try to keep most of my opinions to myself. If I’ve changed in any way in the past four years, it’s in the sense that I really don’t trust certainty or the opinions of anyone else, even close friends or family. I take in everything that people say and do, then I make up my own mind. If a person’s mind can be changed by one debate or argument, or if they can be swayed by one impassioned appeal for their support, I find that suspicious. It’s the opposite of close-mindedness.