July 2004 Archives
Can I go home yet? It's been a good couple of conferences, but I really want to go home now. I have all these experiences both left and right brained, and all I want to do is come back to my routine and apply my observations, and get back into my normal swing. I feel totally disrupted.
So, while at the Open Source conference, both yesterday and today Microsoft sponsored the lunches, which are just bag lunches with soggy aram wraps and all sorts of crap in them. Today, they gave us an entire sleeve of Oreos each. that's like 20 cookies. WTF? Do I need that many Oreos? And yet -- you feel greedy about it once you get it -- throw it away? No f&cking way! They're *MY* Oreos! Get the hell away!
I'm pretty burnt and done and ready to go home. I feel like I've been floating through the last few weeks. My normal routine is all disrupted, and I'm very unhappy about it. I am moving too much doing too much partying... I want to just take an evening off and spend it on my own personal crap. There's two big parties tonight, one put on by Apple (gotta go) and one put on by Novell (which I might skip), but both are excellent networking possiblities. That, and dinner, sheesh. Well, perhaps it's best to just take the evening off.
Last night I totally bailed on all evening events at OSCON and instead went out with an old friend, Cynthia, in Portland. We bought a couple of bottles of wine, drove an hour and a half out to the beach, and hung out listening to music and catching up on old times. I have to say it was a damn good time. We crashed out in the car for a few hours, and drove bleary-eyed back to Portland just in time for me to catch the morning sessions (after taking a shower, of course).
Cyndi is a special friend because we actually went out back in high school and my first year of college, and we haven't seen each other at all since a really bad break-up, about 13 years ago. We talked on the phone a few times, but we never saw each other in person. It was healing to get back in touch with her, clear out all that old baggage, and really connect. She's doing wonderful -- raising two kids on her own after a failed marriage, but is quasi-involved with a new guy and doing what she can to move forward. In many ways she hasn't changed a bit, and in other ways she's totally transformed. I guess that's what 13 years can do for you. I'm just really happy for her that she's doing it on her own and doing it well. I think she's incredibly unhappy in her job, and aspires to something greater than her job in a foundry cleaning and fixing wax molds. She's got quite an intellect, and longs to use it.
So, we had a great time, and I left feeling like I had regained an old friend. Thank google for finding her phone number.
Okay, I've been here at OSCON for two days now, and I've all but purged my creative impulses for the week. Well, not really, but it's an ongoing battle that my logic head seems to be winning. Must be all the computers. We are borg, we are legion. But, even though I'm immersed in all of this geeky big brained stuff, I can't help but feel like a lazy dumb idiot. These guys are all so more involved and so much more expert than I. I guess the fact that I understand them at all should be seen as a major accomplishment. I think that for most of my friends, this would be a thoroughly unenjoyable event. Though, sometimes I wish I had a CS degree and maybe 20 more IQ points.
While I was in San Diego at the Comic Con, there was a certain... stench that I smelled maybe 1/4 of the time while walking the floor. Here, in Portland at the Open Source Convention... I am smelling it more frequently. Has no one heard of soap? Also, I've seen 4 women that aren't working for the hotel services, and only one of them weighs less than me.
I'm in the middle of a brain whiplash -- last week I finished up the San Diego Comic Convention, which rocked and stimulated my right brain, and this morning I'm in the first session of the O'Reilly Open Source conference, which is geared to stimulate my left brain. So far, it's failing. I'm tired, have not enough caffiene in my blood stream, and the speakers are boring me with a discussion of why object oriented programming is cool. Am I in a beginning class or what?
So, I'll spend the time that they're boring me talking about other things. Like how cool it was to be at San Diego Comic Con. Saturday night I partied with comic greats such as Frank Miller and Dave Gibbins (well, they were in the same general area, but you get the idea). I made lots of fun contacts, and I have a possible in with several publishers (including Dark Horse!!!).
Okay, the session has finally gotten a little more detailed, so my attention is split. But briefly -- came up last night and had dinner and a very heated political debate with my grandparents. I have come to a conclusion which I will phrase in the form of a joke:
Question: What is the difference between a philosopher and a lawyer?
Answer: A philosopher actually cares about the answer to the question.
I didn't get around to blogging last night to report on the days events, so I'll get to that today, since I'm not doing much other than sitting in the hotel room and avoiding the crazy crowd at the con. Yesterday was pretty packed -- I had seen pretty much all that I wanted to see on the floor, but I decided to make one last cruise through. I met Michael Jantze(sp?) who writes The Norm, and had a very pleasant conversation. Matt's right -- he's the bomb. I managed to get some signatures of actors and J.J. Abrams on a big alias poster that I'll probably hang at work. I also got Brian Michael Bendis's autograph on a hardcopy Ultimate Spidey trade, and gave him the line from Jared, his brother. He was minorly impressed. But, a good exchange nonetheless. I went to several panels on writing, and all I could think was 'great ideas, but I should be writing!'. I came to the realization that I fill my life up with a lot of shit, and if I want to have the time to write, I have to start carving out the time for it, instead of just waiting for it to happen. Duh. But anyhow, it was a pretty good day. Went to The Field for dinner and had yummy Boxtsies, which are an Irish potato crepe, basically. Had much beer, and then ambled over to a party at the top of the Hyatt that Julie had to attend for work. It was thrown by a company that represents talent for animation, and boy did that suck the big donkey equipment. It was so fucking pretentious and Hollywood -- kinda like being invited to the popular kid's party, only to see them clique up and ignore you all night. We did spend a good amount of time talking to an awesome person, Adam (who is a comic writer, and who is a friend of Adrienne), but other than that -- the party blew. We rolled out of there after two hours of maschocism , and then fell asleep. Today, we're just totally taking it easy in the room. I woke up late, did my Artist Way morning pages, read some comics, did my morning yoga routine, showered, and now I'm blogging. There's a Farscape panel at 2pm that I might go over to, since it's now 1pm and I haven't started the day. Why not? It is the last day, after all. Anyhow, I'll let you all know how the day goes when I report in later. Next week is OSCON, which I'm really looking forward to. I'll be blogging from there as well.
Here it is, 12:30 AM again, and I'm just coming in from having dinner and chatting with lots of fun groovy SLG comic people, and I'm realizing just how much I love this industry and how much I need to start publishing books. I also came to realize just how fucking conservative and nasty this town is, as we continually were harrassed just for sitting outside at a cafe (dressed in black and goth garb). But, we had a good time despite all the crappy people.
The show today was good, but I have walked the showroom floor and have seen nothing I am interested in buying -- this is very good for the pocketbook. Jay just came in to town tonight, but unfortunately we missed each other. I'll have to catch up with him tomorrow, and have him lead me around and see all the people that are cool. I think I'm gonna take it pretty easy tomorrow and not be rabid to get going. Maybe I'll even manage to (gasp) get some writing done -- but that's just the hype talking. Like fuck I'm gonna actually get anything committed to paper while I am here. Comic-con is a time to show your stuff, not to make it. But, I have my notebook with me and I jot down all the fantastic ideas I get as they happen.
But now, alas, it is time for me to sleep. I would give a more exciting report, but I'm just too tired to do anything more.
It's 12:30 AM, and I've survived the first day of comic-con. Officially the con doesn' t start until tomorrow, but today's 'preview' day ended up being crazy as hell anyhow. It took about 45 minutes to get our badges (and we are in the industry/professional line!), and then the floor was just packed with preview attendees. The attendance is supposed to be 100k this year. that's bigger than most cities in the midwest. Seriously, I think I may just sit Saturday out to retain my sanity. However, I did have a few peak moments. I got verbal agreement from the head person in the Comic review division at Dark Horse tell me she'd take my submission for Horizon, which is awesome. Dan Vado of SLG told me he's got more lettering work for me, if I want it. I also got a verbal agreement from AIT that they would also look at my submission. Now, I only have to come UP with that submission. Time for me, Jason and Mike to get to work!
I'll fill you in on more tomorrow -- but I am pooped. Time to read a little more 'Just A Geek' and then off to bed.
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http://www.technorati.com/
if you blog, you should sign up.
It's been a bit since I've talked on the blog, but I wanted to stop in and say all is doing fairly well. There is still chaos swirling around my head, and issues with my parents and infidelity, and dishonesty et al. But, I am thrusting my head above the waters and breathing on my own here. I'm about ready to head out of town for the rest of the month, on trips for business and pleasure. First off to the San Diego Comic Con, which is both pleasure (yay comics!) and business (I'm writing a comic). I then fly from there to Portland, OR, where I attend the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, which is business (work) and pleasure (Yay, open source!). So, that's a lot of time away from the house, which is good and bad. I will miss Eli, though this morning he was playing with my least favorite toy of all times -- the bumble ball. I freaking hate this thing. It's noisy, it is annoying and Eli loves it sooooo much that I can never get him to turn it off after he's turned it on.
But anyhow, just wanted to drop in and give the brief scoop. I'll be trying to blog every day as I am away, to give you updates to my trip(s). I will bring my digital camera, so maybe I'll pepper the blog with some groovy online pics too!
This is the next viral humor site...
http://www.rockpapersaddam.com/index.html
Which Extremity of the World Are You?
From the towering colossi at Rum and Monkey.
Which Extremity of the World Are You?
YOU ARE CHALLENGER DEEP
You hold the distinction - you lucky thing, you! - of being the deepest point in the Earth's oceans. The extreme depth of the Marianas trench, near the Philippines, you reach 10,924 m (35,838 ft), enough to drown Everest with five Empire State Buildings on top. And whereas the number of people to have climbed Everest is now comfortably in three figures, only two people have ever made it to your lowest point. That was back in 1960.
Your known contents are some silt, one flatfish (probably now deceased) and a considerable quantity of water.
Yesterday I went to my therapist, and I went from being confused and emotionally unsure to being completely clear, empowered and happy. That's like magic. It's amazing how just reframing a mental state into new terms can just make things crystal clear. Here's a shout-out for those in the psychotherapeutic profession!
http://hokev.brinkster.net/quiz/default.asp?quiz=Better+Personality&page=1
You are an SRCL--Sober Rational Constructive Leader. This makes you an Ayn Rand ideal. Taggart? Roark? Galt? You are all of these. You were born to lead. You may not be particularly exciting, but you have a strange charisma--born of intellect and personal drive--that people begin to notice when they have been around you a while. You don't like to compromise, but you recognize when you have to.
You care absolutely nothing what other people think, and this somehow attracts people to you. Treat them well, use them wisely, and ascend to your rightful rank.
For those of you who don't know, I've been doing The Artist's Way course, and one of the tools used in the course is something called 'morning pages' -- 3 pages each morning that you use to get out all the stuff you need to get out. I find that by the time I'm done with my morning pages, I've spent what I would normally put in my blog. This morning, I didn't write my morning pages yet, so I have lots still in my head. This is good, because a lot of you have been following the issue with me and my dad, and I had a big conversation with him yesterday. What follows are my thoughts on the occasion.
