Sunday, July 29, 2012

Lazy Week


Not much to say this week. I've been working on some new ideas & contemplating old ones. Should have a few higher content posts coming up. I've been considering doing newbie-photo-tutorials, for fun and to sharpen myself. 

I went out shooting tonight on campus. I've been raiding some of the older buildings and documenting treasures I find within. By treasures, I mean junk that has lingered for far too long. I've also shot a handful of landscapes. I love sitting up the tripod, carefully framing the shot, and then studying the way the light falls in darkness while I wait on my exposure to finish. I'm normally very fast & aggressive when I shoot, so it is a nice meditative break.

Now, sandwich and a movie! or Fallout.


Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Steam Sale Post-Mortem

While you're at it, check me out on Steam!


Steam Store
The Longest Journey
Steam Store
Limbo
Steam Store
SimCity 4 Deluxe
Steam Store
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl
Steam Store
Torchlight
Steam Store
Mirror's Edge
Steam Store
Fable The Lost Chapters
Steam Store
Fallout New Vegas Ultimate
Steam Store
Bastion
Steam Store
The Walking Dead
Steam Store
Saints Row: The Third
Steam Store
Skyrim
Steam Store
Fallout 3 - Game of the Year
Steam Store
Ys The Oath in Felghana
Steam Store
Ys Origin
Steam Store
Alan Wake American Nightmare
Steam Store
Back to the Future: The Game
Steam Store
Legend of Grimrock
Steam Store
Terraria
Steam Store
Deus Ex Human Revolution: The Missing Link DLC


Total amount spent: $144.45
Games played since sale: 1, that I already owned.
Therapy needed: $$$$$

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Away Through The Trees, Into The Forest

Until about five years ago, I'd lived in the same place for my entire life. Situated just behind my childhood home is a very old but still functional wooden barn, a small lake suitable for fishing, a herd of cows, and more forest than any kid could ask for to run and play. Though I don't often get the chance to visit them anymore, those woods are my absolute favorite place in the world. Most of my memories of the place are not large or significant- they mostly involve my imagination and hours of quiet contemplation. It should be no surprise that when I first discovered photography seven years ago I spent a considerable amount of time solemnly pointing at my lens at anything in those woods that seemed interesting.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

All Good Things Must End...


This Post Is About My Day Job

My day job is managing the photography studios in the Department of Art at Mississippi State University. It's a small department, so I often find myself on IT duty as well. If you've ever worked at a university, you know that we keep things forever. Inevitably you have to occasionally go through and do a sweep de-inventory. Part of my job in the last year has been to help do these sweeps. When we first started it was mainly to rid ourselves of early 2000-era eMacs (we eliminated at least three room-sized closets filled in some cases to the ceiling).


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Just a Random Day...

An ICS update leaked for my Atrix 2

I visited KittyKonundrum in the studio

KittyKonundrum and Fiberluxe
Steam Sale Roundup for today:


There were a lot of great games on sale today, unfortunately many I already own. Four days left!

Monday, July 16, 2012

One Week Since

Still there...

New Graphic Novels

Went on an order spree recently, here's the loot:


The only one I haven't read is Funny Misshapen Body, I'm eager to check it out. The top two were reads in my Intro to Graphic Novel class. Maus is Art Spiegelman's visualized retelling of his father's experiences surviving Nazi aggression in occupied Poland. It's a very accessible book with a lot of depth to the storytelling, and can be said to be about Spiegelman's relationship with his father as much as it is Nazi occupied Europe. The Arrival is an attempt to create a completely visual graphic novel. There is no text (though there are vague scratches of a made up language, these are treated more as a visual element than real text). Despite having no words, it is incredibly easy to follow. The content works on a variety of levels- one could easily read it as a fantasy book, though the subject matter suggest something a bit more grounded and real.

Epileptic is my second favorite graphic novel of all time (aside from Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan, and whose new GN Building Stories I just put on pre-order). It chronicles David B's youth as he is forced to deal with the extensive, sometimes bizarre lengths his parents go through to treat his younger brother's epilepsy. Large, intricate black and white drawings are used to visualize complex metaphors, often based in childhood fantasy, to relate the complex emotions felt about his situation. Like many of the graphic novels I enjoy this includes a lot of brutal honesty and exploration of not just happy or sad, but sometimes dark emotions.

In other news, I picked up a few new games in the Steam summer sale today:

Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition
Fable The Lost Chapters

The sales seemed kind of slow today, hopefully something more exciting will pop up later.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Summer Sale inSanity

Well, it's that time of the year. Today I packed up a few unwanted electronics, headed off to Gamestop and got myself a little bit of Steam credit...


The sad part is, it's a little under halfway gone already.

My acquisitions so far:

Terraria
Legend of Grimrock
Back to the Future
Alan Wake American Nightmare
Ys Origin
Ys Oath in Felghana
The Walking Dead
Fallout 3 GOTY edition
Skryim
Bastion

I haven't even turned my PC on in a week. I need help.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Blanket Forts & Hogwarts

This past weekend I had a Harry Potter themed dinner party with fellow artists Ashlei, Emily, and Charlotte, complete with Deathly Hallows movie viewing. Also, we built a giant blanket fort in the living room because they're super fun.

Very healthy dinner party