Of all years, this is going to be the 40th anniversary of San Diego ComiCon, so it's going to be BIG! =( I've only started to go to SDCC a few years back, but it's fast become a regular staple of my summer that I look forward to annually. My escape, my excursion to buy sketchbooks and art prints, to people watch (especially the brave and bold breed known as the CosPlayers)...gone. Sigh.

This year's trip has been thwarted by the U.S. Government. According to the IRS, I owe taxes this year. Normally, I get a hefty return that funds my trip...a fair reward for a year of hard labor no? I will pay them begrudgingly, and I have held out paying my taxes this long out of sheer spite.

I can only start planning for the next year, to ensure my spot in the glory that is ComiCon. I hope that despite this hiccup there will be many more years of 'conventioneering to follow....

Make that a chain of restaurants! Lol, this is one of those happenstance images resulting from the "Google your name" searches.



I have to try this place someday. Odd though, I figured something bearing my name would be a seafood place of some sort. My name "Hai" translates to "ocean" in Chinese....

So this is an interesting turn of events.  At werk, it seems the bosses were quite intrigued that I could illustrate (a secret I kept hidden since I came aboard).  Of course I only consider myself a casual hobby illustrator at best, but apparently I was well suited to start laying out sketches for actual presentations to clients.  To think, I'd be drawing for work!

And WORK I did!  I can't fathom the amount of sketches I had to do over the last two days.  It was the most exhaustive, rewarding, yet strangely painful period of my art "career" yet.  I learned something about myself - that when cornered into a deadline and surrounded by other artists, I subconsciously up my game.  That's both good and bad for obvious reasons....  And to think I didn't realize that is exactly what happened in all of the art and animation classes I have taken over the years.

I was pretty happy with the work I had churned out, and very thankfully for the (forced) practice sessions I was sorely missing.  However not everything came up roses...  As illustrations done for work, none of it can leave the offices.  Maybe I can have it in my own personal book/portfolio, but it will be some time before I get any clearance on the material.  On top of that - though I was thankful to help out I was none too happy about working as an illustrator but certainly not getting paid as one.  Hey folks, how about just meeting me in the middle and give me a cut of the savings?!  >_<

Street Fighter IV was released today for the PS3. Of course I know it will never compare to the pugilistic perfection that was Third Strike (as far as Capcom's releases go), but I still had to run out and get me a copy...and a joystick...all during my lunch hour at work..... The joystick also came with a Ryu headband! SCORE!!!

I hate Valentine's Day.  Lousy Hallmark driven "holiday".  Yes I'm alone, lonely, and bitter.  And before this day is done, I'm going to pee on a bed of flowers and kick a puppy.  Well...no, I'm not *that* fargone, but I certainly do feel like it.  Won't this day hurry up and be over already?!

As of this writing (May 25th, 2009), I have let 14 weeks pass since I last posted a journal.  14 weeks?!  Gah, has my life spun so much out of control that I cannot bring myself to make a blog entry at least once a week?  Short term (and wholly unexcusable) answer...yes.  Long term (and more plausible) answer...sheer utter laziness.

So, thanks to the miracle that is "Date Out of Order", I can go back and make note of some key events and observations.  Granted this totally defeats the purpose of a regular blog (and the assumed regular updates keeping one would entail).  Hey, to be fair...it hasn't been an utter loss.  I've jotted down many a topic on paper with the intention of blogging.  That shows *some* form of dedication does it not?

Rhetorical question.  Answer not desired.

It's sadder and more heartbreaking than what I've heard so far from Camera Obscura.  It could possibly drive me to suicide with a smile on my face.....

New Camera Obscura album is slated for release this April!  That is so faaaar away >_<;  but they released a single as a tease.  "My Maudlin Career", title track from the similarly named upcoming album.  <sigh> It's more than I expected, better than I could ever hope for!  I'm giddy with anticipation, and preparing for the inevitable wave of melancholy listening to Camera Obscura can induce.  Only TraceyAnne Campbell can have such a sway on my emotions...and I LOVE IT!!!

I'm sad, but content at the same time.  One of the most charming webcomics I've had the joy of following has ended it's run.  Wes Molebash's "You'll Have That" exuded an undeniable charm that even this jaded and cynical person couldn't deny.  I got pretty wrapped up in the trials and tribulations of Andy and Katie, following their relationship and their friendships.  Not every strip was a winner, but as a whole it was a shining gem.  I didn't have the schedule to follow every strip every day...I would have to catch up in large doses as time would permit; and that made the end of the webcomic all the more shocking and sudden to me (when I stumbled across the final strip during my last batch reading).  I wish the artist the best, and I'm glad it ended on an ambiguous and somewhat open ended note.  Much like life that it attempted to mirror and chronicle (and did so quite well)....  The strip ended on a good note...and without spiraling into bizarre and meaningless tangents or stagnation as some webcomics have been guilty of.  All the more inspiration to try out my own webcomic.

I'm still having trouble getting the artistic ball "rolling" so to speak.  I need something to sketch regularly to give me incentive (and drive) to build up the drawing momentum I'm so sorely lacking right now.  Enter a possible solution: a webcomic!

Actually, I've been kicking around the idea of illustrating my own webcomic for a while now.  I had one previously that I was working on, a collaboration between me and another artist...but sadly due to creative differences, I opted to end my run on the strip; which was a real shame too considering how much fun and challenging it was to devise strips on such a random and wacky concept.  Out of respect for the creator, I won't post any of the work...though it pains me so since I always thought it would have been a bona fide hit.  We even developed some 'merch.

But I have a new original strip in the works.  Without giving too much away, all I can say is that it is a comic rife full of struggle, drama, and perhaps some betrayal - hopefully with plenty of laughs along the way...all involving a bowl of fruit on the kitchen table.  If anything, I wouldn't suggest getting too terribly attached to the characters, you'll never know who will be the next victim of The Bowl.  =D

If all goes well I will join the ranks of my favorite webcomics such as You'll Have That and Scary Go Round!

 I find it funny when people go absolutely ga-ga over celebrities, be it actors/actresses, musicians, (comic book) artists and what have you.  It's quite amusing when everyday people can abandon reason and find themselves totally enamored with a person they may never be able to be around, or just even meet.  Obsession with a celebrity however...not cute.  That's just plain weird and creepy, but alas a topic for another day....

For years, I wondered how is it that people could "love" a celebrity.  Maybe it's the cynicism I've fostered over the years, but I just didn't "get it"...I mean, what really sets a celebrity apart from the average Joe?  I can't recall the number of conversations I've had with friends where I've heard how incredibly hot celebrity X is or how amazing is celebrity Y.  The ability of some of my friends to recall the names (and measurements) of actresses and supermodels borders on uncanny.  More often than naught, I imagine most celebrities (or hopefully at least some) want to be treated no differently than everybody else.  And really, what monumental achievement is necessary to elevate yourself above the majority of humanity?

I suppose there is a level of familiarity and comfort that some celebrities do provide with whatever it is they do famously - giving fans a shared sense of belonging and fulfilling some emotional void.  It also goes without saying that there's a certain kind of novelty with pining over someone you really would have no snowball's chance in Hell of meeting up with anyhow.  I use to mock the whole idea (and the people who openly subscribed to the concept), and then one day it hits me....



<sigh> ...I'm still in love with TraceyAnne Campbell from the band Camera Obscura!  I could write quite extensively about how and why I have this crush, but...uhm...I don't want to spill over into the realm of "obsessive fan".  Not that I would ever plan out a spur of the moment trip to Scotland in the hopes of meeting Tracey.  Or take up bagpiping.  Or even eat...haggis, if that would ever put me any closer into her good graces.

Ahem....

But Star Trek fans, Lord of the Ring fans, and Xena fans...those people are scary.

 ...and I've got...nothing!  Well, it could be worse - I could be wallowing in self reflective melancholy (as I am prone to do around this time of year)...but...meh!   I'm feeling more apathetic than anything else.  Maybe I need some more sleep to set myself right again....  ^_^

Seriously, it's been a YEAR?!  And where the hell was I in all of this?  I guess I could do a year in review, but there's lots about 2008 I would rather leave behind.  Besides, if it was important enough to blog, I would have already written it down by now.  A more interesting post would be to ponder what 2009 may have in store.  Of course, this begs the usual "resolutions for the new year"...of which I haven't given any real thought.  I'd like to come up with something more meaningful than the commonplace (and trite) "lose some weight" or "____ more this year".  We'll see....

I do know that one of my New Year's resolutions *must* involve my art.  I've been putting a lot of stuff in the back burner for far too long, and it's just plain sad and depressing.  I just need to finish a *single* piece to get this snowball rolling!

Fallout 3...or Prince of Persia.   Fallout 3...or Prince of Persia.  ... Fallout 3...or Prince of Persia....

Solution: both!

But...then there's...PixelJunk Monsters...or SoldnerX Himmelsturmer.  PixelJunk Monsters...or SoldnerX Himmelsturmer.  Crap!

That is the question.  Now I love me my movies (a little less ever since I got involved with "the industry"), and I have a rather sizable collection of dvds of tv shows, anime and movies.  And then there this new format out: the BluRay.  The successor to DVD and winner of the next-gen format wars.  From what I seen, I like BluRay, and I'll be damned if HD-DVD ever won out (boo the MicroSuck backed inferior format)...but I have some mixed feelings.  I don't want to recollect all the major films in my library, and I don't know if I can justify upscaling my collection just yet.  Well first of all, it'll be mighty expensive.  And second, I'm fast running out of storage room.

The leap from VHS to DVD was a pretty astounding one, and it was nice to see certain things unearthed and restored for the digital age (Lupin the 3rd!), just as the leap from standard DVDs to BluRay is another monumental jump.  However, I don't have a high def monitor just yet to view BluRays in their full glory...and certain things really don't need the enhanced specs (anime isn't going to look any *better*, nor would a regular tv show).  I guess for now I can be really (*really*) choosy on what to purchase to build up my BluRay library, but until BRs fully replace DVDs and leave me no other choice, I think I'll be happy with regular DVDs.

By the way, anyone ever watch a movie on BluRay running at full frame speed (30 vs 24)?  It just looks WEIRD!  Why that is an option I'll never know because that's hardly a selling point for this format.

Haven't been posting in a while.  I blame myself and take full responsibility for it.....  On a lighter note, it's the holiday season and it's getting even colder!  JOY!

I hate to admit this, but as the holidays roll around one of the things I like to do is leave drawings for (cute) waitresses whenever I go out to eat.  I don't know how it all started, but I do know I've been doing it for the last couple of years.  Depending on the time at hand and the company I'm with, I'll usually grab a napkin and a pen (or if I'm really prepared I'll have a mini-sketchbook and art brushpen with me) and doodle something holiday themed to leave along with the tip.

It isn't easy being a server, and I can only imagine how thankless and trying a job it can be at times...especially with all the selfish wretched idiots out there who feel the world is owed to them everywhere they go.  I have a lot of friends who have been or are currently working as servers, and my kudos goes out to them.  I do find it funny that aside from getting much needed  drawing practice, what I wind up doodling I usually want to keep in a sketchbook.  "Now why can't I draw like this in my sketchbook?!"  ...<sigh> I suppose I need a bit of pressure or some competition to put me at my best.  Probably explains why my drawings came out so much better in art class or at work than when I'm alone sketching.  Figures....

Above all else, my goal is to put a smile on a waitress' face.  If it's the bright spot of holiday infused cheer to an otherwise rough and busy day, then I've done my job.  Granted I am a hopeless romantic, but I don't ever expect anything out of it (in case anyone's wondering)...though it would be nice if I can get the attention of a cutie outside of the restaurant.  Hey, I can dream can't I?

Today was a fun one.  Had lunch with my good friend Leo at the BJs Pizzeria in Covina, and I did a little sketch of my infamous "Devil and Angel Girls".  For one brief moment, my Angel Girl was being good and offered up a present to the Devil Girl (instead or tormenting her, as usual).  It was an idea that hit me one a whim, and I just may redo a nice Illustrator version of it.  Y'know, add it to the pile of other drawings I'd like to finish one day.  Lol.  I ought to name those characters to make it easier to reference from here on.  For the record, the waitress who served us today was really cute too...!

 ...when you add "-icus" to the end of something it sounds more...I don't know...Roman?  It's one of those odd things I've noticed over the years that always amuses me.  Now it isn't a universal fix, but for the most part it works out pretty well.  For example, take "Bud".  Then add "-icus", and you get "Budicus".  Yesh!  Now where's my gladius and galea?

Eagerly counting down the minutes.  Waiting for my "green light" to flee the office and rot my brain on some more SOCOM.  <sigh> I'm so ashamed of myself right now.....  Not even thinking about picking up dinner on the drive back, that would just waste precious game time.  LOL

I got that PS3 I've been promising myself.  Of course, whatever art I wanted to work on has fallen to the wayside...taking a backseat to SOCOM: Confrontation, Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway, and Valkyria Chronicles.  All excellent games each fulfilling my needs as a warmonger (tactical shooting, tactical World War 2 shooting, and World War 2 inspired tactics....  Hmmm, I do see a theme there).  I suppose my art will suffer until I overdose on my PS3.  Then it will be off to my minis painting (the resurrection of Space Hulk and a big block of Anima Tactics figs), and *hopefully* back to my sketching, especially now that I want to sidetrack into a new experimental phase.  Oh what have I done?!