Wabi-Sabi has moved!

You betta believe it!

Go here if you don't believe me: buddytherat.wordpress.com

Or you could keep checking back on this blog, but then you wouldn't see any new posts and that would be pretty stupid.

1 Week To Make A Game - Day 2

Hello again! Today I have some interesting developments.

Firstly, the game planned in the first post, well, that will not be completed in a week. No no, the idea is too good and the ideas I have for it too grand to downgrade it so. No, I shall keep working on it, but as a much larger project. I don't want to leave you totally disappointed though so here's a cool sketch I made of the first area of the game.

Click for larger image.

Secondly, the game I WILL be working on over the next week.. *drumroll*

Will look like this:


Like it? Hate it? Well I like it. My new strategy for tackling this 1 Game in a Week thing is: SIMPLICITY. Some of the world's most popular games (video and otherwise) are so popular on virtue of their simplicity. (No, I'm not saying this game will be that good.)

We'll see how it pans out tomorrow as I struggle to learn MMF 2's terrible, awful scripting "language". Until then, my love is a stolen catchphrase.

P.S. Props to mah scientist peeps at da Large Hadron Collider yo. Keep up da hard werk n dont let dah haterz put u down. peace out

1 Week To Make A Game - Day 1

And so it begins. Can I do it? Will it actually be fun once it is done?

For most of today, things were looking pretty bleak. I had planned on making this day my main planning day. Ideas and design and whatnot. Well, my mind was blank. I couldn't think of ANYTHING.

A quick shower, though, solved all of my problems. I do my best thinking in there for some reason. (as I am sure many can relate with) I have to admit, though, that this is a game idea I have had for a long time now. It was the shower that made me realize that it was perfect for my challenge.

The premise is simple. A little boy is dreaming, and the world is his dream. A strange cave appears in the distance. Dare he enter? Outside the cave sits a bard. He tries to talk to him but he just goes on and on about absorbing bullets or something weird like that. The boy enters the cave.

In the cave the boy encounters beasts and monsters of all sorts. Why are they here? Can't stop and think now, they are attacking!

The boy is filled with magical powers as he rises into the air. What is this strange power? It is not merely the boy, someone, something is helping him! A ring of bright crimson materializes around him. The boy is astonished, but he suddenly remembers the words of the bard. "...Absorb bullets with the proper color, and then you may shoot them right back!..." The boy concentrates.. PCHOW! A red orb of light bursts from the ring, frying the monster into cinders.

Don't understand? Tomorrow will explain further, as I work as hard as I can to get this done.

Wish me luck!

Chiptune Monday

Noticing a trend, anyone?

Well, today was GOING to be Chiptune Monday, and, I tried, I really did! I guess I just overestimated my abilities. So, gimme a week, I will have some actually finished tunes to show you.

Oh yes, you'll see.

Anyways, tomorrow starts my 1 Week To Make A Game challenge, and if everything goes as well as the past two days have then.. well then we're screwed.

On a side note: I got my learners permit today! Woohoo! Joyous times.

Welp anyways PEACE OUT YO.

Sketch Trip

Looks like I fell asleep before finishing this post. Oh well, here it is anyways:

Well, I didn't quite go on a sketch trip as planned, but I did go on a trip. Today I was definitely worried about rain, and it did sprinkle a bit, so the sketch trip was called off. I definitely needed to get out of the house though, so, despite there being no good movies to see, me and my girlfriend went to the mall. We browsed the shops worth browsing, ate some dinner, and then for no particular reason we decided to head over to Books A Million, which is a pretty good walk from the mall.

It turned out to be the best decision of the day. We browsed the books a bit, picked what we wanted, made our purchases and then went to the cafe to just relax, read, and enjoy our day. We shared a hot cocoa and it was a good time.

Definitely going to try to get out of the house more and relax more often. Thinking about having to post and having something special to put up was already stressing me out, so I'm glad I took this weekend to just chill. Anyways, I have a copy of Spore to go pick up and enjoy!

Skeleton!

Today I am not a man of words. Just pictures. As usual, click for a larger view.

I have learned much today, and will continue drawing skeletons, since it is intensely illuminating and very fun.

Tomorrow the Calendar says "sketch trip", but we'll see how the weather is. (Forecast says it might rain.) If that's the case, maybe I can surprise you with something else?

Desktop Tour - Behind the MAGIC

Yes that's right. The magical world of Wabi-sabi REVEALED AT LAST. In this first time opportunity I will bring you backstage to the heart and soul of Wabi-sabi. Yes that's right, in this premier occasion, I, BuddytheRat, shall show you my desktop. *Applause*

Idiotic attempt at humour aside, streamlining my ability to organize and plan ahead was the main inspiration for starting up my blog again, so I will give you a fairly brief runthrough of how I get things done, with tips and software that can help make ANYONE more productive at their computer. If you spend any time at the computer whatsoever, then you will benefit from this post.

So let's go ahead and get to it. Here is my desktop, in all it's glory:

Click for zoomed in version.

THE RUNDOWN

Samurize
On the left of the screen we have Samurize. The website describes it as an "advanced system monitoring and desktop enhancement engine for Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista." In less vague terms, Samurize is a flexible and powerful tool for creating and designing (or downloading) perfectly customized desktop "widgets" so to speak, which can display anything (in beautiful ways) from your grocery list, to currently playing album art, to the amount of harddrive space you have left.

While my own config is still currently a work in progress, (notice the big gap right in the middle?) what I do have is a good showcase of the software's ability.

Here, from top to bottom, I have the date/time, harddrive info (using the Buuf icon set, by mattahan), a list of daily tasks and reponsibilities (because I need it ground into my head or I will probably get distracted), and the currently playing track in winamp, along with album art, track bar, song title, and artist.

Sunbird
Here is the centerpiece of my desktop, a very important piece of software indeed. Sunbird is an open source, extensible calendar created by the people behind the Firefox web browser. It is the central and most important part of my desktop because it is the central and key piece of software used in the creation of this blog! *Applause*

With Sunbird I am able to keep tabs on multiple sets of events and todo lists, each with their own individual colors and settings. Most importantly, I am able to sync Sunbird up perfectly with Google Calendar (with use of this incredibly handy tutorial from one of my most favorite websites ever), putting all of my important dates and times on the internet to access at any time. This is how I am able to seamlessly integrate my Goals calendar with the right hand bar of this blog.

Glass2k
Of course, no calendar is useful if it isn't visible at nearly all times, thus bringing us to our next bit of software, Glass2k. Glass2k is a very simple and easy to use program that allows you to set any window to be semi to completely transparent through the use of very easy to learn hotkeys. How does this become useful in increasing productivity and organization?

Well, with Glass2k, I am able to make Sunbird, and any other desktop applications that I might have the need to keep open, be able to stay open and maximized without hiding or otherwise detracting from the background image. Aesthetics are very very important to me, and so Glass2k has become a mainstay in my software library as a nice way to establish an aesthetic, yet still functional workspace.

Executor
Our last piece of software is one of my favorites. Executor is a must for anyone that strives to speed up their ability to navigate their computer. Put simply, Executor is an easily accessible context menu that can be quickly accessed at any time through use of a hotkey. (Mine is ctrl+/) Once open just simply typing the name of any application, or preset keyword will find and open any program, folder, etc. that you might otherwise access through slow use of the mouse. In my current setup, a quick "Ctrl+/, net, [enter]" will open up my web browser.

The use of Executor has completely removed any need I may have had for the Start Menu. (Which I have slyly removed through use of another program, called Start Killer.

So that's it. That's my desktop. Thanks for all your time and I'll see you tomorrow! Expect more posts like this in the future, as I compile more of the tricks, tips, and software that I have amassed and used over the years.

Slowly I Climb

As dorky as it seems, learning Disney music on the piano to sing along with is satisfyingly fun. Soon I shall be able to sing along as I play A Whole New World, and it will be awesome.

Embarrassing anecdotes aside, today was a success!

Time spent drawing: About 1 hour.
Time spent on piano: About 30 minutes.

As for the study on heads, while I didn't really do anything too in depth, I did what I could, and ended up learning some things. Because I now live with my family, my grandmother, an extremely talented artist, is ready and willing to offer criticism and advice, and will be helping me along as I try to improve, artistically. Anyways, enough talking and more pictures:

Warming up with some reference images.

A quick scour of the internet got me a nice little 3d head that I could rotate and draw at different angles. Not completely proud of these, though.

God I'm rusty. Well you gotta do what you gotta do.

Lastly there's this guy. My grandmother suggested that I try to draw heads with interesting shapes, and thus this guy was created. I was quite satisfied with him. It's always refreshing when I can draw something that makes me chuckle.

So, I guess that's it then. The first real post! Huzzah! If you'll note, I am in fact taking tomorrow off, so, sorry internet, but this will give me a chance to prewrite some things and make my life a lot easier. Until then, farewell!

6 Months

Today is September 1st, 2008.

A lot has changed since I last posted on here some 6 or 7 months ago. The WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE™ didn't get much farther than what you can see. Shortly after that post I got hired as a production worker at a Steak n' Shake just down the block from my college. The Go Club meetings went well and I attended a couple. I've lost touch with the host since then and no longer attend. I am no longer enrolled in UCO and now live at home. I guess "dropped out" is the more popular term. My last day at Steak n' Shake is in 2 days.

If you asked me what I was up to these days, I would tell you that I am pursuing a career in art so that I may one day work in the game industry doing what I enjoy. Though, what I would mean by that is that I am currently spending too much time playing video games, spending money faster than I can earn it, and too little time (none) practicing actually drawing.

We all have to grow up some day. Maybe this is one of those days. It's interesting having all these blogs that I have crafted over the years, and to be able to look back and see them just vanish, like magic. All that hope and potential, building up and heading somewhere, anywhere, but then just like that, gone without a word. I guess I just haven't learned yet that this is my future I am throwing away. I am in control and I'm driving myself straight off a cliff.

This post is already more depressing than I intended! But, it's really a happy post. This is my new last stand. My comeback into the world! I am older now, and wiser. It's amazing how much you can learn in just half a year. Some days you just wake up, and you realize how different it feels to be you. You just, suddenly and abruptly realize: A change has taken place here. It's hard to notice these things when you're drifting along without a cause or goal in life.

I've been planning this resurgence for some time, though. I don't know why my random inspirations tend to pop up near the start of new months though. Probably some kind of psychological thing. A feeling of rebirth, starting over. But it's not starting over at all. I need my past mistakes to build on and gain momentum from. There are no magical gates, just walls in my head. Walls that barricade me, like a maze. My habits, my preconceived notions, all of them mesh into a complex and difficult maze. But it's all a construct, a lie. Imagined into existence. They aren't real.

Once you can ignore the walls, progress is easy.

Just do it. Do it even if you don't want to. Do it even if you don't think you CAN do it. Wait, what am I doing?

THE PLAN (so far)

Every day I will draw for 30 minutes, + the time it takes to complete any goal's I have set for myself in the calendar.

Every day I will practice the piano for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Every day I will plan for the day ahead, organize my thoughts, and generally clean up my life in whatever ways I can to prepare for the road ahead.

Every day I will finish goals as set forth by the calendar.

THE CALENDAR

The calendar is the true blood of this operation. (thus it gets it's very own bold title text!) The idea to map and actually PLAN for the future is surprisingly a totally new concept for me, and I think it is something I've needed for a very long time. I have purposefully made my calendar easily accessible and readily available. (More on this on Thursday's post, "Desktop Tour")

Every goal I add to the calendar will be openly available for public viewing, as can be seen on the right hand bar of this blog. (Click the link under the calendar for a more user friendly view.) Every goal listed will correspond to a post, each with a description to let you know of what is to come.

THE FUTURE

The future? Well, just look, it's all written out in front of you. Now grab it, and make it a reality.