Oddball Update

No, that’s not the latest ridiculous task I’ve been saddled with by a client or anything like that. It’s the thought I had just now as I was sitting here, looking at this site, and browsing the web for examples of what other people have done with their blogs, design-wise. I mostly don’t like any of the other ideas out there, which removes the temptation to make a highly derivative work, but of course puts me in the more arduous position of whipping something up from scratch. I momentarily considered hashing out a new design right here and now, but with only about ten minutes left before I call it a day, I decided that was a pretty lousy idea. Starting a web design at 11:30 is guaranteed to do only one thing, and that is keep you up all night while your brain stubbornly works overtime on it long after your body has clocked out. No thanks; I’ve had enough nights like that already.

As I write this, my third straight day of sunup-till-sundown working is coming to a close. This schedule is actually by choice, for a change. I’ve felt extremely motivated in the work sector for the last week or so — for reasons unspecified — and have made the most of it, spending a slice of each day working on one of my various outstanding projects for one contact or another. Day job from 9 till 5, dinner for an hour, side job from 7 till 11…interspersed with a twenty minute workout here, a business phone call there, and sprinkled with an errand or a follow-up or a pet project on the fringes. I’m moving at Ludicrous Speed™ but I like it. Because it’s on my terms, this time.

Best of all, it’s all going to pay off — in the short term. We’re on the cusp of a three-day holiday weekend, something I haven’t enjoyed in many months (barring our self-made holiday to San Fran, of course). That’s right, a holiday my company actually observes. Pinch me, for I may be dreaming. On top of that, I put in a couple extra hours during one of my “gung ho” working marathons earlier this week, and as such can cut out that much earlier tomorrow evening and enjoy an old-fashioned review of one of my favorite sci-fi action films, Aliens (Yes, that one: “It’s over, man! Game over, man, game over!”) I Netflix’d the special edition DVD release, the one with the director’s cut of the film that includes the sweet footage of the sentry guns. I actually bought a shoddy Laserdisc rip of that version of the film on VHS at the Metro Detroit Comic Con many years back. But it’s the year 2006, and that means it takes more effort to drag out a VCR and watch a poor-quality, third-generation copied tape than it is to request a crisp new DVD from Netflix and wait for it for three days. And whoa baby, did mentioning the Comic Con dredge up memories…mostly of wasted money. But I won’t go there. You know…Turtle Blimp Syndrome, and all that.

On that thought: I heard that this year’s Metro Detroit Comic Con was host to none other than the 2006 reunion of the original Batman TV series cast, including Adam West himself. You read right. The offical Batman reunion. In Detroit. Okay guys, whatever floats your boat! I just hope you locked the Batmobile, or it’s liable to be gone when you get back. (Sorry, sorry. If the Con was still held in Novi, as it used to be, they undoubtedly had no such worries.)

Regarding this coming weekend, I plan to spend two days working, and the third day playing. The subject of playtime for this occasion is the much-anticipated redesign of Oddball Update, which I’ve been chomping at the bit to get started on for a while now. Having this super creative energy this week has been great, because it’s fueled a lot of ideas for the new look which I am eager to try, but I haven’t been able to spare the time to put that energy toward my own endeavors. I expect to have the chance this weekend, finally. Just hope I’m not burnt out by then. Tomorrow’s shortened schedule was designed to avoid just such an event, though, so hopefully my careful planning will pay off.

To Pooch: I can’t believe you actually found an old copy of MIXX ZINE, yesteryear’s “hip” and “fresh” American introduction to manga, whose clever idea to save time and money translating Japanese books (which are read right to left, in the opposite of our native style) was to simply mirror all the artwork on every page. Oh yeah, they cool. Not. Speaking of oldies, a couple days back I was poking through an ancient folder of garbage and dredged up the original Mizuno Nukem, an oft-paraded colored pencil drawing I once crafted of a combination of Sailor Mercury and Duke Nukem. Yes, I had somewhat diverse tastes in the 1990s. What of it?

Categorized as Life, Randomness