I maked it

I survived the last few weeks, believe it or not. Yup, I'm not settled into Calgary - got the machine all setup and a bed to sleep in. I've been working hard these last few days, especially after arriving back from the Maker Faire. There's a lot of 'cleanup' that needed to be done after I got back. There were 70-some-odd orders that needed to be checked and shipped, on top of whatever was just arriving. I have to say I'm fairly pleased with how I did - since Wednesday, we got 90-100 out. There were some that I couldn't figure out or fix, so they built up a bit. But overall, I think I did ok. Long days at work though.

As for Maker Faire, it was fun. Sure, I spent 90% of my time in the one building where my cousin found an appealing video game booth, but I got to see TONS of cool stuff in between. Most notable, meeting THE Johnny Lee (of internet Wii remote fame) and catchy a chunk of Adam Savage's keynote. Good stuff.

Being on vacation like that really takes a toll on me, though. When you're constantly with other people, I find it draining. I really could've used some alone time. I got the odd 10 minute walk in, but it wasn't enough. I got so exhausted towards the end.

As for the sightseeing, there were lots of cool things in and around San Fransisco. Most noteably Lombard Street, Alkatraz, WWII sub Pampanito, Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory, Boudin Sourdough, and Half Moon Bay. I particularly enjoyed the last one, and wish I could've spent more time there. The sand was so deep, and the sea was so... Endless. I could've stayed there forever.

There were a few other escapades, like finding out my ticket home way booked for a day later than we thought. That resulted in running around trying to get American change for a pay phone, finding out there wasn't enough for a long-distance call the boss's cell phone, and then finding a random stranger to borrow a phone. And then getting the coworkers/friends who just dropped you off half an hour ago to turn around from the campsite they just arrived at to come and get you. Ugh. That was one heckuva evening.

As for goods, I got some decent swag from the Maker Faire, T-Shirts, flyers, etc. Aside from some chocolate, a bookmark, and a toy helicopter, there wasn't anything else. I guess I'm not that big on location-themed merchandise.

Anyways, two drawings for today. The first are some robot dudes I enjoy drawing, these perticular ones done while waiting to board on my return flight. The second is an Iron Man portrait I've been working on over the past two weeks. Maybe ~5hrs or so of work was put into it over a few different steps. I could've probably done a bit better, smoothing out the colours and fixing the obvious lighting issues. Alas, I just don't feel that compelled to keep working on it. Also, I wasn't too fond of the original colours I used (the above pic), they looked too bright and washed out. I messed with the levels after I finished, and you can see that version here.





Anyways, that's more than enough for now.
-Cril

There she goes
There she goes again
Racing through my brain
And I just can't contain
This feeling that remains

Sixpence None the Richer - There She Goes