And Ben Dover bows out??/ wow!

You guys are taking this way too far.

Obviously found the thread here easily. I guess I don't consider myself to be that important to get upset over threads being moved.

Oh come one, Michael. Way too much drama here over trivia. This is nothing. Some nobody bails - Big frickin deal.

You know, the CIA 'friends' people. They reckon it's a good way to round out stuff on people. One of the basis for this is a reckoning that people are needy, have to cast this net of friends, real or not/virtual or not, whatever - That sort of stuff to dreary to get into and articulate correctly.

They're probably right - I know it starts early - In school, it's often a popularity contest. In other places, for example, the norm is quite different. I've lived in places where it takes years of acquaintance to get a 'friendship' to the point where it's somewhat formally recognized as such in a little ritual 'friendship' ceremony ( toast, drink, etc ). Friendship is a little more serious business elsewhere.

Anyway, aside from that rambling, whatever, the fact of the matter is that this is a busy time of year. There's the holidays, etc, to ready for, as well as making a living.

This unnecessary drama is a waste of time, making such big deals of insignificant stuff. What a joke. There's better things to do. Time on junk like that is time wasted.

This is a great time of year. Aim to enjoy it.

And besides, this aint family and friends. You guys can think that - It's your life, you're free men. This is just a URL - There's been some good times here, but it's just the internet, where occasionally strangers come together. It aint family. That's just ridiculous.

Ed

Well aren't you a little ray of sunshine today. Glad you came back to get it off your chest.
I'll say, so why are you making such a big deal of it?

Holidays to get ready for? Christmas is 2 months away, have you succumbed to the corporate mindset of what the holidays are supposed to be? HST would not be proud.

I would call it a little ray of common sense and reality.

Well, really, since I'm on the internet anyway, I suppose a few minutes doesn't hurt. Was just sketching off Google images for a characters styleguide for animated cartoons, to make stuff much simpler in the whip it and ship it production part - If need be, should just be able to offload to anyone with the chops, and maintain consistency and nuance ( facial expression, gestural expression, etc ) - So, it's a big deal - Need to get it done, and need to whip it and ship it. Female central character is ridiculous, so basing her features off Madonna because it's obvious ( recognizable ridiculous figure - now, to be clear, I'm not one of those dudes who dislikes Madonna because she's an accomplished powerful woman - in fact I don't know her, so don't dislike her - I think she's ridiculous, though ). Basing off is simpler, too, instead of the aggravation of reinventing/inventing original new features, whatever - Well, the recognizability, I think, is more an asset than a liability. The central character's gal pal is just a generic lump - No big deal - Needed a gal pal, though, to make stuff work. Decided there had to be a guy pal, too - So, Michael Richards ( Cosmo Kramer ) seemed a natural for basing features off of. Interesting, expressive face and bones. Ridiculous recognizable figure.

This stuff isn't as easy as you'd think. There's identifying and delineating features for expressiveness, graphicalizing them. Then further refinement to quick and easy templated calligraphy ( term for reduction to interesting interplay of thick and thin strokes, easily wrought by any talented enough hand, with proper tools, in this case, long elongated marker tips that render according to subtle pressure - and direction of stroke makes a difference, too ). There's stuff to this stuff.

So, that's what I was doing when I just now hopped on here.

Besides, I like to enjoy myself at this time of year. It just quickens me perhaps. Gives an urgency to other stuff besides a keyboard. Time away from the keyboard is a lot better than time on it - Well, I guess unless you're doing something productive, perhaps, resolving something, researching, transacting something useful, etc.

No big thing. Just wasting too much time here. That's basically it. I was up in the mountains yesterday ( well, what Californians call mountains - A Northwesterner wouldn't call them that ).

Anyway, later. Busy, busy,

Ed

Oh yeah, this is that time of year, too, where people hit me up for portraits. Gazillions of portraits to bang out. We're taking four days around Palo Alto and San Francisco, entertaining, some opera my girls and wife want to see ( but not me, thank God ), carrying on with friends, couple nights in hotel, shopping, dinners, etc - That's mid-November, some holiday break, then there's Thanksgiving to prepare for, down in Goleta/Santa Barbara. If you fail to plan, well, the results can be more fun and better if you plan.

Nothing personal - There's just stuff to do, is all.

Lots of stuff to do.

Tried to reply earlier, but the servers went wonky and I had to get out the door to work. Now, I've forgotten what it was I wanted to say.

My holiday prep started this past week with the thanksgiving invites and now the juggling of traditional foodstuffs and who brings what. It won't stop until I kick out all the guests after Christmas.

The planning is the fun part. I let my sisters do it all my life now I am in charge and it's great fun but you gotta start early.

Hi Ed.
Glad you came back to say your piece.
Can't think of a better reason to take a break.
Work hard.. and remember to play hard.
Please post when you feel like it.

-Curtis