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Reader Robin Got Excited and Made 100 cupcakes. I know what you're thinking: "Well, that's a lot of cupcakes, but so what?" Well, doubtful-person-I-just-invented, let me tell you what: each cupcake depicts a different board or video game, and she put them all up on a website where you can identify as many of them correctly as you can, with a mouseover button to reveal the answer. Allow me to share just two of my favorites:
Trust me on this: you simply must go spend a couple minutes and check them out. I promise that you will have your mind blown at least once.
This is the second day in a row I’ve ended up weary and tearful over my kids. I don’t know how to help them. I don’t even know if I should be helping them or if I should be standing back and letting experience be a stern teacher instead. The issues aren’t major ones, just homework and kid squabbles. I fear major issues since these small ones hammer me so hard. This is as much a part of my parenting experience as the happy days which are full of fun stories. It is an important data point for all those considering parenting or in the midst of their own parenting. I know that I’m good at parenting, or so Howard tells me. Some days I even believe him. But other days I feel like a failure. Then I comfort myself with the quote from Mary Radmacher:
Edited to add: It is now thirty minutes later and things are much better. They always do get better, it is just hard to remember when in the midst of it all. Mirrored from onecobble.com. 1 comment | post a comment
I can't say anything specific about the job, but I got to be a voice actor again today, working with people I love, on a show that I love. While we were all in the booth together between acts, waiting to hear from the director about our pickups, I took a moment to look around and appreciate where I was, who I was working with, and what I was working on. I talked a little bit about truly appreciating things a little bit on this week's Radio Free Burrito. My biggest regret from my years on TNG is that I was too young and immature to truly and fully appreciate how lucky I was to work with such wonderful people, even though I was able to enjoy it while I was there. I guess the only way to unlock the "appreciate" ability is by leveling up your Wisdom attribute, in other words. In my life experience, I've come to believe that enjoying something and appreciating something each involve a sense of gratitude, but when you put both feelings together, you end up with something that is greater than the sum of its individual parts. The two don't go hand-in-hand unless you actively make the effort, but when you do ... well, you end up having a day like today, where I enjoyed working with wonderful people while creating a fantastic characters, and I also appreciated the opportunity to be there.
Most of you are aware of my list that tells me if I should date a man. That's just for the first date with any chance of reaching a base.
I've had such a great experience using Lulu to sell Sunken Treasure and Memories of the Future, Volume One, I have decided to start out 2010 by moving the audio versions of The Happiest Days of Our Lives and Just A Geek to Lulu. It made a lot of sense to me to keep all of my self-published work together in one place, and hopefully this will make ordering even faster and easier than it already was. Now, for the sake of completeness and making a post that's more than 70 words, here's a little bit about my audiobooks, which I yanked from the Audiobooks tag on Wil Wheaton Books dot Com:
For the Lulu release of Just A Geek: The Audiobook, I was able to include a PDF scan of the booklet I created for its previous release, which I think is pretty cool. (If you already own the audio version of JAG and would like a copy of the PDF booklet, just e-mail me and I'll get it to you as quickly as I can.) My audiobooks are quite different from traditional audiobooks. Rather than create a dramatic interpretation of the literal text, which is what I do when I voice another author's book (Like Peter & Max: A Fables Novel For both of these books, I worked with my friend David Lawrence, who in addition to producing them, participated in some interesting conversations along the way. In fact, we added so much material through our conversations and my additional commentary, we only half-jokingly call them superannotated versions of the books. It's the sort of thing that I doubt I'd be able to get away with if I wasn't doing this entirely on my own, and I'm really glad that we did the books this way, because I think it makes them special and unique. The feedback I've gotten from customers is overwhelmingly positive, and it appears that my goal of making the listener feel like we're sitting down together while I read to them has been successfully achieved. Okay, before I sign off, I'm going to address a couple of FAQs that usually come up when my aubiobooks are mentioned: Q: How about some stats, man? A: Happiest Days is $19.72, about 3.5 hours long, and is about a 200MB download. Just A Geek is $20.00, about 9 hours long, and is about a 400MB download. Q: Why is Just a Geek only 28 cents more if it's so much longer? A: That's what she said! Oh, um. Sorry. Because it's been available for so long, and the old pricing model we used when it was originally released needed to be updated. Look, I know that people can just steal it if they want to, so I figured it was better to make it more affordable for people who want to be honest. Q: How about a discount if I get them together? A: I wish I could do that, but I'd have to make a whole new project at Lulu, and I don't think there's enough market demand for that. Q: Can I get this from Audible? A: Not right now. Q: Why not? A: Two main reasons: Audible takes a huge cut of the purchase price, and for an indie guy like me it's not worth it. Audible also requires DRM, which I'd like to avoid as long as possible. Now, to be super-clear: if Audible could somehow open up my work to tens of thousands of new customers, I think it would be a fair trade off. However, my experience in traditional publishing leads me to believe that that isn't going to happen. I think I can reach Q: So why not do it anyway? Why not sell them directly yourself and also use Audible? A: Hurm. That's a good question, and I can't come up with a very good reason that's more comprehensive than, "because I don't want to deal with the hassle and potential rejection from Audible." Q: So you're going to eventually do that? A: Well ... it seems silly not to, now, doesn't it? Tell you what: once I get everything I need to do under control and I'm not behind on a crapton of deadlines, I'll look into Audible, assuming that they'll even be interested in having me. Q: So should I just wait, then? A: Facepalm. Q: Are you going to do audio versions of your other books? A: I've meant to do a Dancing Barefoot for years, and just never got around to it. If enough people are interested, though, I will. I bet I could give Barefoot a really neat superannotated treatment, especially since I've leveled up so much since I wrote it. Q: What about Memories of the Future? A: I really don't know. It takes a lot of time and energy to produce an audiobook, and I don't know if there are enough buyers to make it worth the time it would take to create a Memories audiobook all at once. I've thought about doing it episodically, so if only 20 people are interested, I've only wasted two hours instead of forty, but I'm not sure that would work. But there's always the Memories of the Futurecast, guys. Q: Hey, is it weird to essentially have a conversation with yourself and present it as a FAQ? A: Keep your questions on-topic, please. Q: It's just that, I think it's kind of weird. A: That isn't a question. Q: Oh, so the voice in your head can say you're awesome and you'll let that slip by, but if I point out that it's a little weird, you're just going to blow me off? A: Pretty much. Yes. Okay, um ... you in the back? Q: Hey, I don't have a question, but I just wanted to say that you're awesome. A: Why thank you. That's very kind of you. Q: And tell us, once again, where we can get these fabulous audiobooks, please? A: Great question. You can go to my storefront at Lulu to find just about everything I've recently published, or you can go directly to Just A Geek: The Audiobook or The Happiest Days of Our Lives: The Audiobook. Annnd, scene. Thanks for reading and (hopefully) listening. Remember to tell all your friends, and be sure to drink your Ovaltine.
An argument with a voice in my head after spending several hours working on book layout: Time for a break. But we’ve still got so much left to do. You’re on a roll. Why stop now? I’m tired. I’m cold. My hands are feeling shaky. And all those rows of file names are starting to get tangled up in my head.
Yes. But it does not have to be completed today. I’m going to go take a bath. The voice is quiet while I get up from the computer, have a bath, and then lay down to rest. Then it is back. You have to pick up kids in an hour. What if you don’t wake up in time. You really should go back downstairs and get some more work done while they’re out of the house. Once they’re home you won’t be able to focus on work. I have a timer set. It will beep and wake me up. All that other stuff is true, but the work can wait. The work is supposed to wait. I’m supposed to pay attention to the kids in the afternoon. I then went to sleep, but the voice romped through my dreams making them feel restless. It plotted sneaking off to do work after picking up the kids, then it put that into my dreams. Defiantly, I kept sleeping until I heard the timer. I really do have a lot to accomplish this month. All the things are important and I will feel much more relaxed when they are done. But pushing too hard and stressing myself only gets them done a little bit faster and it seriously impacts my enjoyment of life. I don’t need to run around in an anxiety driven panic. I just need to do some work every day until all the things are done. Mirrored from onecobble.com. 1 comment | post a comment
Just for reference, a Buffalo Time-Step consists of: L R R Flap Shuffle Step, lifting LF in sur le cou de pied a 8 + a 1 L to L RF L R L Flap Flap Step Shuffle Hop + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 RXBL L unX R Step Shuffle Hop + 6 + 7post a comment
Problem: Analysis:
Results so far: We’re two days in. The journal was filling up with angsty sadness. I was concerned that re-reading all the sadness would convince her that her life really is horrible, so I have added the requirement that each entry should have at least one happy thing in it. Her days really do have more happiness than sadness. I’m not sure whether the codicil is necessary. Writing the emotions down seems to allow her to let go of them. She is much calmer after writing a lament. Additional plans: I need to enroll her in either dance or gymnastics. She needs to have something in her life on which she can focus surplus energy. Mirrored from onecobble.com. 2 comments | post a comment
Originally published at Gibberings. You can comment here or there.  MY EYES bit.ly/17×17 Last night I dropped by the Experiment 17 gallery in downtown Seattle. Up an ancient checkered lift and into a chartreuse warehouse, popped with fuchsia and pastel. The theme of the show is STRANGE, and I’ll be joining forces with Redd Walitzki, Carl Faulkner, Joe Vollan, Noah Beasley, and Ian Hanschen. Ian, who is an accomplished hacker and roboticist, has joined forces with me in an extremely ambitious project that may or may not come to fruition in time for the show. Hedging my bets, I’ve decided to run a SWEATSHOP concurrently with the show, and I’ll be streaming a live painting, or paintings, from the X17 show floor. So whether or not our insane project is finished in time, there will be BLEEDING EDGE art available at this show. But most importantly, there will be free snacks and a donation-based bar. Which is, really, the only reason to show up to a vernissage in the first place. I’ll see you there. And, as always, show up and say you’re from the Internet, and get a free sketch on the spot! 1 comment | post a comment
I made a list of the things I want to get done this month. It was enough stuff for two months. I looked at the list and felt a deep desire to get some of it done quickly, to knock it out in the first week of the month so that the rest of the month is more relaxed. The desire is familiar. Each week I bury Monday under a list of things that I want to have out of the way for the rest of the week. I looked at my list again and realized that I’ve kind of done the same thing for the year. January is full of things that I want out of the way. I want this year to be a calmer one. I want there to be space for quiet contemplation and family trips. This front loading of my schedule is partially driven by fear. I don’t know what is going to come along and rearrange the calendar. Last year it was the XDM project. The year before that it was a health issue. Earlier than those were financial reverses, learning new skills, and conventions which could not be missed. Our schedule has not been predictable for a long time. I combat the fear by tracking upcoming events farther out in the future. I’m endlessly grateful when other people give me lengthy advance notice about events for which we’ll need to plan. I also try to get as much done as fast as I can because it theoretically makes more space. Only it doesn’t really. Small businesses and families both provide an endless stream of time filling tasks. It is not possible for me to get it all done. I will never be done. I run myself ragged trying to create spaces and often as not the spaces are filled up before I get there. If I want this year to be calmer and more peaceful, I have to start now. Now is part of this year too. I need to begin as I intend to continue. I need to carve out spaces of time to feel peaceful and joyful. If I can do that in each individual day, then this year will be what I want it to be. I still have my list. I still intend to get most of it done by the end of the month. But I will not treat this month like a mad dash toward completion. It will be a quick paced run with time to look up and around at the scenery. Mirrored from onecobble.com. 2 comments | post a comment
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. ) post a comment
Is the "Moon-Earth Libration point" in the Sunday strip an intentional obscure usage of the term "libration", or a typo? The term "L1" refers to Lagrange points where the gravitational force between two bodies is balanced. While libration can refer to balancing anything and the Lagrange points can be referred to as "libration points", the term libration usually refers to how the Moon doesn't always show exactly the same face to the Earth. 5 comments | post a comment
If you saw a picture of me in my veil, that was a mistake. UNSEE IT. post a comment
Knitting
Some years I am so eager to be done with the holiday season that I take down the tree on boxing day. Those years I am in a hurry to reclaim my front room and normality from the clutter of tree, nativity, and seasonal books. Other years I want to savor the holiday feeling for a more extended period of time. This year the need to un-decorate sneaked up on me. It dawned on me slowly that today is New Year’s Day and that my front room is still full of Christmas. Some time before Monday morning I need my front room to not be full of Christmas anymore. I need to hit the ground running on Monday because the first of the year accounting is looming and I’ve got a list of business contacts to refresh. Knowing the job needed to be done, I decided that the sooner it was done the better. So I rallied my reluctant forces and we began to un-decorate. In this case the forces were my kids. They are always enthusiastic about decorating and completely uninterested in putting things away. (This is also true with most of their toys, but that is a problem for a different day.) I started by requiring them each to remove 50 ornaments from the tree. Thus I discovered that we own approximately 150 ornaments. I’m not sure what I’ll do with this little factoid, but there it is. Mostly I was pleased to have all the ornaments transferred from tree to box in less than 10 minutes. The tree itself was carted downstairs and shoved into the giant duffel bag we use as storage. At that point I released my minions from bondage and they fled back to their games. The rest was up to me. The tree is our big Christmas effort. Everything else fits into three boxes. This year I decided to organize and sort as I put things away. It is a small gift that I am giving to my next-December self. She will discover less chaos in the Christmas boxes, which is a good thing. The boxes are all stowed. The various debris have been swept. The furniture is put back in the regular locations. My front room feels light and spacious. Over the next few weeks various Christmas items will surface from odd corners of the house and I will shove them into the tops of the Christmas boxes. We’re ready for what comes next. Mirrored from onecobble.com. 1 comment | post a comment
Title: Four Seasons
What DOESN'T make me mad is my new red hair. It's exciting indoors:
I don't know about you, but I'm starting my 2010 PISSED OFF. First thing I see when I wake up at 8 AM, wishing that I had the power to go back to sleep, is some fresh motherfucking cat piss on my goddamned couch, and there just isn't much that makes me more mad than that.
I'm starving. I WANT/NEED food. I'm not talking about that BS slurry that you assemble at 3 in the morning when you're 21 and no one knows the difference. I WANT REAL MOTHERFUCKING FOOD. I'm talking potatoes, mostly. Greasy, salty potatoes, coated in grease and DEATH.
... this one for Wal-Mart, from (appropriate) point.rollover.com, I believe. post a comment |
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, which I did for Bill Willingham), I am able to use my experience as an actor to bring the words and characters to life while adding my own commentary. The result is much closer to hearing or seeing me perform my material live than getting an audio version of the text.
