This is the first appearance of the blue guy. He's a combination of my friends, and my sense of philosophy. Like most of my friends, he's much smarter than me. And he wears glasses (which rule!). It's not a coincidence he first appears in a coffeehouse. Many great things begin with coffee.
This was my portrait shot. I threw the Cast together and made them smile. If they had mouths.
I don't know what it is with the blue guy and the sky and the philosophy, but there you have it.
I'm rather proud of this sky. I'm still working the kinks out of my sky technique, but I feel like I'm getting closer.
This is one of my least favorite doodles. I expected so much more from it. It was supposed to show how playing video games is not the same as living. Now, don't get me wrong. I play a lot of video games. It's just sometimes when I've played too much, I feel like I could be using that time for better things. You know, like doodling or writing useless paragraphs on nothing.
My second D&D doodle. Drawing these characters keeps me sane when my hands start to shake and I think of World of Warcraft or Dark Age of Camelot or Everquest or any of the MMORPG or RPG or D&D nights that kept me up long hours. Conjuring these costumed Horribles is as good as rolling up a new character, leveling him up, and then casting large fireballs. Well, almost.
Notice Julie is in front, and we're cowering behind her. That's exactly how we play video games: Julie runs ahead, and I cast from behind. Allegory for life, or just my love of magic coming out. I'll let you decide.
Today's work was the result of my posting this doodle about a month before our wedding. My mother immediately called:
"David."
"Yes, mom?"
"Is there something you're not telling me."
"There's lots I'm not telling you."
"I'm talking about your drawing yesterday, the one with the parachute. Is Julie, you know?"
"Pink?"
"No, pregnant?"
"Huh?"
"Well, you drew someone dropping in a parachute, and I was thinking you might be trying to tell us something--you know, subconsciously."
I failed, clearly. After all this time, nobody has a clue who's who. For the record, I'm the beige one, Julie is the pink one, and the blue guy is the philosopher, a combination of my friends. Julie was dropping in on my life. I decided to draw this picture as way of explanation.
So, thanks to that conversation, I bring you the ultimate guide to the Cast of Horribles, pre-marriage and pre-Ziggy.
Another in a long line of philosophy in the morning. The thought came to me and I grabbed a piece of paper to record it before I lost it (I lose many Horribles ideas that way). I was thinking about religious choices and how doing nothing is the same as making the choice against doing something. That morphed into the more general thought that sometimes you make a choice without even thinking about it.
And, yeah, I realize how terribly unoriginal this is. It was more a reflection of my failure to act on what I thought was right than recording a new and clever saying. Before cleverness and intelligence and book-smartness (hehe), there is willpower. Without will, you can do nothing. For all my pretend knowledge, I severely lack that very important aspect.
Originally, I drew a setting sun, but when that didn't look quite right, I replaced it with the cloud bank.
I had this thought when I started praying a few months ago. As part of my Jewish journey, I pray each weekday morning before leaving for work. Jews are supposed to pray three times a day, so it's only a start. Even the bit I do, reading the Amidah, which is known as the standing prayer, is only a small portion of the rich prayer tradition. The Amidah is at the center of the ceremony, and there is much text that surrounds it. It is where you acknowledge God, ask for your needs, and then thank God. In the middle, I include more personal prayers--although the more I learn about the text, the more I realize all of these personal requests are included in the Hebrew prayer at a higher level. It has taken me some time to learn the routine, and I still don't understand most of the words I'm saying. Like most things in life, it's a process.
I'm so used to recording my thoughts and ideas--and, yes, I realize that since I rarely write anything these days, this means I rarely think or have ideas anymore--and to say and think something that I know nobody except me and maybe Him will hear felt strange at first. The more I did it, the less strange it felt. I'm still undecided on how it makes me a better person. What I do know is that if I don't try, I'll never know. It's not one of those things that I can think about know how it will come out. It's something that only experience can teach.
I had this discussion with a friend at work. He's always complaining that I cut him off when he's telling a work story. I do this for two reasons. First, because I want to show how smart I am by guessing the conclusion of the story, or providing advice before he's finished. This sometimes works.
The second is the stronger reason. Once I understand the gist of the story, I want certain details to better understand it. I find it's much more efficient to interrupt and solicit those details than wait for them to come out in the telling of the story.
One of the amazing parts about working in my corporations are meetings with executives. They walk into a meeting and take over the conversation. It's not that they dominate the conversation by talking more or louder as many people do who enjoy hearing themselves talk. It's more that they want to guide the conversation to the issues that they think are important.
The first time I was in such a meeting, I sat in amazement as the executive interrupted the detailed powerpoint presentation, and attacked the important issues, some of which the presenter was attempting to avoid. I hate meetings, especially meaningless meetings. But by guiding the conversation in this way, the executives turned a potentially useless meeting into an exciting and productive one. At the end of the discussion, we walked away with a detailed plan, and covered the pertinent issues.
After leaving that first meeting, I vowed to emulate their example: I walk into every meeting, and where possible, guide the conversation in a more productive (and sometimes combative) manner. It sometimes goes over very well. It very much depends on the audience.
We were discussing the new Warhammer Online with Steven. Julie and I haven't played a MMORPG since I destroyed my second set of World of Warcraft discs. We decided it was time for us to try again when Warhammer releases.
We talked to Steven, who is an even worse addict than me. He hasn't played since Everquest because of his addiction. We told him that as long as we stick together and only play when we all play, he should join us. This strategy has failed me in the past, but there's always this time.
So come mid to late 2008, we'll be knee deep in orcs and swords.
I'm very tired. To catch up on my lost sleep, I need to sleep in. When I sleep in I wake with a headache. This is a vicious problem.
Julie and I went out to dinner last week. This was one of those bad days where my head was pounding. We walked back to the parking lot to drive home. I opened the door to a gray Prius and slid in. It felt different, but I didn't know how different until two women approached. "What are you doing in our car," they asked. We got out, apologized, and found our gray Prius two spots away. This can only happen in Seattle.
A while back, Julie and I went over to our friend Scott's house to play Rock Band. This was our first time playing the game, and we had a great time. (We went for a second visit a few weeks ago.) Besides the three of us, we were joined by Scott's family. I concentrated on the bass, while Julie, not surprisingly, did most of the singing. We created a tour group called the Periodic Elements, in honor of the lead singer's name of Phospherous.
While I keep promising to post photographs of the Villa, I can never seem to find the time to post (or take many) photographs. With the help of some awesome friends, we stayed in the Villa until midnight the past few nights putting stuff together and getting ready for our move in day. The house is shaping up nicely, and once the dog room is complete, we'll be ready to officially move in. It should happen by this weekend at the latest.
I drew this in my religious phase, which happens every few months. I'm on a very normal cycle. For the curious: the last few months has been a severe downturn in belief.
The following argument thumbnail could have been better written and organized. Come to think of it, most of my writings can be better written and organized. You'll have to take what I give you, however.
This was the answer my rabbi gave for the meaning of life: connecting with the infinite. It sounded very profound when he said it. In brief, if there's an infinite being out there[1] that created us,[2] then the best possible explanation for our existence[3] is that we're given an opportunity in this life to grow closer to the infinite.[4]
[1] An infinite being itself contradicts our existence. By (human) definition, nothing can coexist with infinity since infinity includes everything, including us. There cannot be anything outside of the infinite. There are certain touchpoints in Judaism where the rabbis hold up their hands and say, this is an inherent contradiction of life, and humans will never be able to understand it, regardless how smart or wise we become.
[2] I'm not a proponent of Intelligent Design. I can very easily imagine a universe created by an infinite being that includes evolution from the galactic down to the organism scale. I even like the idea: the infinite being created the mind-boggling huge universe to show humans a perspective on their existence as compared to infinity (and this is true even if the universe isn't technically infinite--it is as close to infinity as we can understand in a non-mathematical sense).
[3] By "best explanation," I'm also including the assumption that the infinite being is Good. This isn't technically necessary for this argument, but does help understand why the infinite being would want us to connect to the infinite being.
[4] Remember, an infinite being doesn't need anything from humans. There is nothing that a human can give an infinite being that it doesn't already have. A perfectly good infinite being would give us something, however. Usually people say existence is the gift. While existence is definitely part of the gift, it can't be the end in itself. The evidence that there needs to be more than existence is in our very makeup: we always ask about the meaning of our lives. Is it really just about feeding our physical body and needs, or is there something greater.
There are rationalist that say the greater meaning in this random world is to make our lives and our children's lives better. I understand and sometimes feel that that is sufficient. Other time, I look to a more spiritual answer. I'm not saying the above is the correct one, but from a logical perspective, it does have its merits.
This is a really ugly doodle. The foreground is fine, but the background: it's like I wanted my new house to look ugly. It's been sitting at the front of my queue. I kept promising myself that I would edit it and improve the house. I've decided that will never happen, and while I thought briefly of deleting it, I did like the blue guy and his coffee. And did you see the title? How perfect is that for the events of the last days.
I've been in a bad mood these last few days. Julie blamed is on my MySQL server going kaploey. That was definitely part of it. Now that it's back up--and in plenty of time for the start of the Marathon this Saturday--my mood will hopefully improve.
The real reasons for my bad mood haven't changed, but my perspective may have moved slightly for the better.
Ah, another perfectly titled doodle. I really want to take credit for these, but I drew this in July. I must have known I would be approaching the end of the Marathon without having posted a word for anyone to read. Trust me. It's better that way.
I should finish the writing today. I can't say I finished the story, or that a story ever even formed. I'm beginning to think these Novembers are nothing but an exercise in finger fatigue. But I persevere and hope that one day I'll find something of value in the mountain of words.
Today's doodle is another in a line of religion/philosophy doodles. The idea was simple: Judaism (and many other religions) were created/discovered by people with an incredible amount of time on their hands. They did not have much to do (from what I understand, sheepherders stand around a lot) or many people to talk to. So they spent their time contemplating their navels. It's amazing what you can discover by looking at your belly button. I figured that was step one in religious discovery. I'm still searching for my navel and hoping to find the silence that will lead me to answers.
Silence is not always a bad thing.
The Watchmen did not suck. We were very happy to see that. The movie could have lost thirty minutes and been a bit better (for the mainstream), but we don't understand the negative reviews. It was both faithful to the comic book, and enjoyable as a standalone movie. I think the end threw people off. The characters in the movie are not good and evil. There's a healthy spectrum that violates most moviegoers expectations.
Ah, the philosophy of a know-it-all. I know him only too well. It's another beautiful day in Metropolis.
It was raining when I drew this. Therefore there is rain in the Horrible. Sickening, isn't it?
It's still amazingly dry here in Seattle. It's growing cold, but the sun keeps shining. I'm not sure what the world is coming to: sunny in October.
By request (hi, Kelly and Kelly's kids!). I particularly like how the dogs look. They're very cute if a bit smelly.
The Seattle winter weather has returned: rainy and fifties. Most of the icicles have melted on our fountain except for the bottom bowl, which is still partly frozen. I turned on the pump this morning but nothing happened. I'm hoping that it works once it completely melts. Otherwise I'll have to put on my toolbelt and start afixing. Or call someone. Definitely the latter.
Bonus Horrible! Actually, we're leaving for Dallas tomorrow through Monday, and I've been prolific in doodling. I decided to post this a bit early so you wouldn't miss out during the weekend. Enjoy!
But I do try. I always do try.
. . . or stop pretending that I'm a writer.
...not have busy Fridays. Ever.
A very wet weekend. Julie's friend Joyce is in town, and we spent the weekend visiting the cute neighborhoods of Seattle.
. . . from the heat. And they're not doing a terribly good job of it. The unseasonably hot weather is descending on Seattle. I know it's bad form to complain when NYC wallows in triple digits. But that's what I do: complain about the weather.
This Horrible was based on a Justice League cartoon, with a wonderful art style, a strong beginning, and a boring, drawn out conclusion. For that reason I won't bother linking to it. Western cartoons are missing humor. I used to think it was annoying and childish in the Japanese animes. Now, when I see a cartoon without it, I miss the personality it provides to the story.
I really have to get back to doodling. My queue is running to 28 weeks now. Not good. Not good at all.
I'm off to NJ this weekend sans family. I'm very sad.
