Procrastination Sets-In

       So, for the past three weeks I had no part of my comic ready for me to work on. Bad Plan. Very bad plan!  I have come to realize that the only real reason that I have actually managed to survive my third year of high school was that I had something else to tie me down.  I need to have something else that I am striding to achieve, otherwise my academical goals take over, and become the only thing that I can seem to focus on.  For some people, that seems just fine! (Good grades are important! What is there to be complaining about?!)  Well, since you don't know me, you wouldn't know just how unhealthy it is for me to do that, and how much time I would spend on academic work outside of school if you'd let me.
       IT WAS HORRIBLE, absolutely terrible, how much I neglected all that was important to me.  It was to the point where that dreading feeling form middle school and earlier high school came creeping back on me.  The dreading feeling I am talking about is the feeling I get when I know that there is something that I need to do, but can't seem to come past the fact that the mere thought of it makes me sick.  You see, up until the second semester of last year, I had a homework problem.  Yes, a homework problem, and a serious one at that.  I just couldn't seem to shake it; it was bread into me through habit, and there didn't seem to be any chances for escape.  I was scared, horrified that the amount of stress involved with things at school this year would finally come to consume me, and that there would be no end to the amount of nights I would spend at home wishing for some strange phenomena or an act of god to close school for me the next day.

       In reality, I knew that would never happen.  So if I wanted something to be done about it, I knew that I would have to take things into my own hands!  I needed to be the one, independently and unquestionably in charge of my life, and so this summer I made that my main initiative: To make things better for my final two years of high school, and to kick start my life!  Yet, these past to weeks have become a slip-up.  They almost brought me to a complete halt as far as life goes, and it was to the point where it made me sick!
       Test after test was bringing me down.  I thought that because I had made it into October, that I had the whole groove of grade 11 down pat... but I guess not.  It wasn't like there was any extra work at the start of this little bout, it was only that I had nothing to work on in the evenings besides homework, and thus found myself wasting time on the computer or overexerting myself on little projects and things that really didn't need half of as much effort.  But then the real trouble came the following week, when I found myself up to my armpits in novel studies, complicated math and physics equations and a number of different projects that really got me down.  I began to feel trapped, but in the end, optimism won-out. Thank God!

       The Friday of the second week, I decided to take in my first two pages of the comic I am working on.  I thought that it would lighten my spirit, and it really did the trick!  Two of my friends, who have high-speed internet have been following my blog all the way through from the time I first started it in the beginning of September, were quite impressed with what I had shown them now that they had got to see the actual page up close, but my other friend's reaction was the best of all.  He has dial-up and so has never really understood what my comic thing is about, but when he saw my drafts and finished works, his face at that instant I opened my carrying folder was priceless!  He sat the silent with wide eyes for a couple of moments, then all he could do was sit swear to himself silently.  (Damn that's good!!!)

       [Yeah, they all thought it was pretty professional.]  

       At that moment, I began to regain my willpower.  I was so ecstatic when a couple of the girls sitting at the other corner of the room whispered across, asking if they could have a look at it after the class was done (because this was at the beginning of third-period history, but I just couldn't help myself.)  They loved my work to, and said that they were really impressed.  I don't care if my friends thought I was "picking up," I was happy.

       There was tons done that weekend to improve myself.  I found myself being quite social at the grocery store, striking up a conversation with some people that I knew from school.  (I love how people actually look to talk with me now. If it were last year, there just would have been no way.)  As if it were a sign from god, a fantastic double-rainbow appeared in the sky after a big rain storm we had that weekend.  I saw it as a sign of my achievements and my growth that week, but nothing could have prepared me for what was to come after it...

*This story shall continue in my next post.

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Story of my 3DS: (Part 3) A Trip to Town!

     It was Thanksgiving Sunday (October 9th) when we decided to make a special trip into town to buy the 3DS.  Of course that wasn't the only reason that we went to town on a usually quiet and respectful holiday, my mother had forgotten something very important that she had left at the grocery store and couldn't wait until Tuesday to make sure that it was safe.  It somehow didn't feel like a typical Thanksgiving to me this year, but it is probably because my sister wasn't home to have dinner at my grandmother's this time around.

     We spent a while searching around for the right place to but the thing, but in the end, we figured EB Games was our best bet.  I was a little worried that they might not of had the one in red because Staples didn't have any left when my mother checked, perhaps they just didn't have any in stock, but it turned out that EB Games did and I was very glad.
     I bought the system myself while my dad was out in the car.  I had told him that I was just going in to check to see if they had it in red, but where they had it rate there, I decided to buy it myself.  I personally think that it was better that way, for it is a great source of empowerment to know that you have gotten something so valuable to yourself on your own.  The only thing was, I was 25 cents short!  (Apparently I had miscalculated the cost before I left the house, but you have to admit, I was pretty close.)  I stood there half-embarrassed for a couple of moments while I witnessed the numbers ringing through.  "Umm... I don't quite have enough" were the only words I could manage to say.  Needless to say, I was a little nervous.  My next words were "My parents are just outside, do you mind?"
     I was lucky that the cashier was good humored and only grind at me when I said this.  "No, not at all!" was his response.  It only then occurred to me as I walk out the door, I have no idea where dad parked the car!  I managed to somehow spot our vehicle out and brisk-fully made my way toward it.  "You got a quarter?... Thanks!"  My father had the window rolled down, so the process went fairly smooth.  Only a couple of moments latter was I back in the car with my long awaited prize resting on my lap.  Inside, I was as glee as a hunter after getting their first catch of the season.  Success! 

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3DS: Progress? (Part 2)

I am a lot better today, and am feeling generous enough to give you Part 2 of my ongoing story about my quest in obtaining the 3DS.  Enjoy!
___________
And so, the inquiring of my parents began.  I say inquiring with a purpose, because, unlike most children, I do not interrogate my parents when there is something I am asking of them.  For me, that is far too bold and way out of my style.  I merely mention in to them, you know, as a simple passing thought, one that just crossed my mind.  I rarely ever want something so bad that I will ask for it, but I guess the 3DS was pretty high up there on my list.
When it gets to this point, I usually go out and get the thing myself, but I really wanted my parents to know what it was I was purchasing before I did.  And so, after a quick visit to the Nintendo's main website, and a couple of videos shown to them on YouTube, my parents were convinced that it would be a good buy and that it was indeed time to upgrade from my graying DS lite.

Over the past few months and after carefully thought sorting and planing, I have managed to accumulate a hefty stack of video games that I see little point in keeping and need to pass on.  I think I would feel much better if I knew they were in the hands of some little child who actually had the time to play them.  Most of them are DS games that I sorta' bought on impulse, the rest are for the Game Cube and two-three are for the Wii.
Also, being the frugal Canadian that I am, I collect Canadian Tire money form my parents every time they buy something from the hardware store.  (If you are American and don't know what Tire money money is, you should! Because it's Canada's official currency, don't you know?... eh, I can't even attempt to be funny tonight for some odd reason.)  Over time, the wad of CT money I possessed had grown to the point where it almost reached the full size and circumference of the cylindrical case I had stored it in.  My father, remembering this, decided to strike up a deal with me, a trade; 'all the money in that jar, for its actual worth in cash' my father said.  He was planning on buying a small saw from Canadian Tire some time soon, and he really wanted to see me get that game system.  Sadly though, CT money is hard to judge.  It comes in frequency ranging from 5cents to 2dollars, and all of them in bills!  It makes you think that you have more money than you actually do, and that seemed to be the case with dad.  I counted:

     ($3.50 worth in 50cents, $1 in 1dollars, $3.00 in 25cents, $5.60 in 10cents and $1.35 in 5cents.)

I was totaling all of this up while sitting on my stair steps, and by the time I was finished, a good three rows were covered in various sheets of coloured paper, all arranged in their individual piles based on value alone.
All of this, and only $14.45 ?
My father, being very generous as he is, still gave me twenty dollars for the little amount that I gave him.  I protested, saying that he should not have to give me more than I gave him, but there was just no chance in me ever swaying him any other way.

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Part 3- Coming your way this weekend!


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3DS: Now that's Progress?

Last week had really been a rocky week.  I had kept coming down hard on myself for being so hesitant with getting work done and I almost felt as though I wasn't the one in control.
"Control" had been the central thing I was trying to achieve this past summer.  Control of myself and my life.
 Telling myself "no more taking the back seat", that kind of thing, you know? And I had actually managed to reach my goal of self control by the end of the summer, but this week, it had somehow started to creep back up on me.  (Although not to the full extent that it had been before.)

I guess that the whole thing started on Thanksgiving weekend, when the final plans for one of my projects came into play.  I'm not talking about my comic project here, this is more of an example of a life project,and something that I had been readying myself for since the summer.  I had decide that I wanted to purchase a 3DS, and not just any kind of a 3DS, I had my eyes set on the sleek, new flame red 3DS, and in my opinion, the good kind; and so, I did.
My first interest in Nintendo's latest hardware peeked the moment it was announced.  Being the HUGE Nintendo fan I am (and a bit of a nerd), I was watching the live-streamed video of that years E3 conference via the internet when Nintendo made its first announced step into the world of 3D gaming, and I have to say, my jaw dropped when I heard the big news.  The first thought that ran through my head after that started me laughing inside.  Seeing the 3DS brought me back only but a couple of months earlier to when I was having a conversation with my friends about the controversy that had begun to spread about the existence of a new portable gaming console, shortly after the release of the Nintendo DSi.  I could remember bits of the conversation where I said "How could Nintendo possibly go any higher? What more can they add to gaming than cameras?" and we all agreed that Nintendo was stalling time by just releasing a bigger version of the DSi in order to satisfy their consumers with a new product.
One of my friends, who is a big PlayStation fan by the way, and is by no-means caught up in the whole Nintendo fandom realm of gaming, had jokingly said "What next, gaming in the 3rd dimension?" and we all laughed at such a ludicrous idea.  "What would that even be called? the 3DS?" "No way, man! How would that even be possible?" ...It was as though we thought the whole thing up ourselves, and the first words from my lips as I sat at my computer watching Mr. Iwata speak, was "How is this even possible...?" the same words spoken by my friends a few months back.  Crazy, right?
(Did I just get goosebumps?  I think I just got goosebumps?)
...
Sorry guys for not posting anything in a while.  I know that technically they say that it isn't very professional to inform everyone that you are sorry for not posting anything because it only annoys your viewers, but I got to say, I really am sorry.  If not to you, than at least to myself.

As I watch this blog post grow and morph, I see it becoming a longer story than what I had anticipated.  So, seeing how it is as lengthy as it is, I have made the decision to break it up into a couple of posts that will appear on my blog spanning the period of the next 7-8days.
This has really been a rotten couple week for me, my apologies for not being so active and cheerful as I usually am.

Part 2 coming soon!~

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Summer Falls

     I can't believe the change in the colours of the leaves this week here in Atlantic Canada! (Yes, and I do mean colours and not colors; and for all of my American viewers out there, the proper Canadian spelling for the word is actually that.)  It really is an eventful thing when the leaves begin to change, isn't it?  I think that I would really miss it if I were living someplace else in the world where the changing of the seasons did not include the bright yellows, the vibrant oranges and the deep reds that cover the landscape every fall.

    On top of the lovely scenery that we had this weekend, we were also blessed with fine weather.  Temperature in the twenties for Thanksgiving?! What kind of trick of the senses is this?  In any case, this presented me with the perfect opportunity to get some good sketching done; and so I did:

     For this one I hauled a folding lawn chair across our back yard and plopped it down so that it was facing the field and the forest behind my house.  I was actually a little saddened at first with the way how this one turned-out after I looked at how it appeared on the computer screen after I had scanned it, but now that I see it miniaturized in my post, I don't feel as bad about it and am actually quite content.
     When I sketch, often times the pencil marks are so light that a great deal of them don't get picked up by the scanner.  This is an example where that kind of thing happens to the image, but a simple change in the images resolution may just do the trick.

     A funny thing happened while I was making this picture, my dog, who is sometimes at my side when I am doing these kind of drawings, suddenly got the notion that it would be a good Idea to sniff-out the largest pile of animal droppings in the field... and ROLL IN IT!!!!! Yipes!  Yeah, I know, hilarious... but it wasn't for me at the time.  It still cracks me up a little when I picture myself sitting peacefully in my lawn chair, thinking about how nice of a day it was, when all of a sudden... zoom!  She didn't even gave me enough time to grab her before she began diving her way into it. (I swear it was large enough for her to do the back stroke through it!)
    Chloe is a small dog, so it didn't take much for her to make it seen as though she were in a state of complete and total mess, and she wasn't aloud back inside of the house for a while, or at least until she was cleaned.  My father and I gave her a bath, which is a routine thing for us now on the occasions that we let the dog run around the yard without the use of her tether.  But, man! Was she ever smelly!

     I had a good thanksgiving though, did you?  I managed to keep myself busy with all of the family-visiting, trips to town and whatnot, but I wish I could say the same about my comic.  I am a little stalled at the moment, that is not to say that nothing is getting done to it (I have worked out much of the plots beyond the pre-story legend that I am publishing to the internet now), but I usually have a page readily available to work on in the evenings after I come home from school.  This week so far, no such page exists and I feel as though a massive void of discomfort has been added to my day.  I should now make an initiative to empty that void of all its stresses and fill it full of the thing I feel most good about doing rate now, my comic.
_
*Just a little side-note, here.  Although most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the forth Thursday in November, us Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving on a different date, the second Monday in October!  Neat hun?  I think that it has something to do with fact that Canada is further away from the equator than the United States, and thus the harvest are more earlier in the year.
When I think of November, I don't picture pumpkins and scarecrows.  For me, and many other Canadians, November means freshly fallen snow and the first taste of winter.

I sometimes find it interesting how the slight distance in our surroundings can change the way that we perceive common things in the world...

2nd Page

Yippee! IT'S DONE! My second page is complete, and what a great feeling it is. Voila!:

The DPI settings with this one is a little higher than my first one, so it actually to a little bit longer to upload.  (DPI= dots per inch, for those of you who don't know.)  Oh, well. It just means that you get to witness all of the second page's glory in its original size if you wish.
Now that I am looking at this on a smaller computer screen, I realize what a great sense of depth I put into these three panels, especially the first one.  All of them somehow look like you're peering through a window or something.  Hmm.. weird? But, I love it all the same.

There are significant improvements here from my first page.  The boarder is a bit simpler in this one, making it less distracting, but equally attractive.  The Idea with the boarder is to make it feel ancient and religious, and I hope that I have managed to capture that essence in this one.  The more I do this; the better I feel about it and the happier I get.  I can actual feel this thing begin to take off, which is an emotion I have been waiting a long time to have felt.

I hope that you are enjoying this as much as I am, and I'm sure to keep you updated on what is to happen next.  This is an awesome feeling, it really is!
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Things to Come

     Good news people!  Guess who has finished his second page?  I did!  (mumble mumble, weeks after the first one, mumble mumble) Nonetheless, it's done!  It took me a far amount of effort to work my way through this one, but I can assure you that the amount of self-satisfaction I had received after having completed it was well worth it.  The only question is, was it worth the wait for you guys? Silly Len, of course it was! (it's not like you have any real followers yet anyway...)  I needn't remind myself about that now, do I?
     While me and my parents have been able to have the joy of witnessing the completed second page in my comic, Knights of Mamus'sa, you people here on the internet community won't get to see the product until tomorrow.  I'm sorry, but that's just the way things go.
     On another note, I do plan on changing the process in which I complete my pages soon.  Once I finally see that I am getting used to the system of work I have now, and become confident enough with the ink pens, I am moving foreword with my comic and will be advancing/quickening the amount of time it takes for me to produce a single page.  My current way of working is to do things page by page; framing, penciling and inking, with sub-steps in-between.  In the future, I have hopes of doing things in suits; drafting several pages, penciling several pages and inking several pages, but I can expect it to be I while before I am doing anything like that yet.

I know that I don't have a picture included with this post, but I did have much to say to you today.
Besides, you'll be getting something even better tomorrow! 


Edit: Now posted! (View the results here!!! )