Dangers of an Impulse Buyer

I admit it: I can be a little impulsive when shopping. Book stores and craft stores are definite weaknesses. Today's venue of choice: Hancock Fabrics. They had a sale on a brand of patterns, so my SIL and I headed over there to check it out.

Now, I am a very novice seamstress, and I'm mostly interested in bag, pouches, and so on, so I stick mainly to fabric remnants and quarters. And then... there's the patterns. Soooo many patterns... which is where being an impulsive buyer can get me into trouble. I think, "Well, I might learn something from this one!" And, of course, since I'm a complete n00b in the realm of sewing, I can learn something from just about every pattern I come across. I justify it with, "Well, when I learn these techniques, eventually I can create my own patterns, and then I can actually sell something!"

Before I know it, I've got ten patterns piled up.

This happens in book stores and other craft stores, too, especially when things are on sale. If I'm not careful, I could end up spending a whole lot more than I intended.

Fortunately, there's a way to help prevent it - or at least minimize the damage: delay check-out. Rather than grabbing things and heading straight to the nearest register, I spend some time walking around with my stuff. Eventually, I'll start thinking, "Okay, do I REALLY think I'll use this? Will I actually READ this sometime soon?" If the answer's no, then I put it back.

So far, it's been working pretty well. Then I just have to be careful not to grab anything on the way to the register... or at it.

Now I just have to put some of my new goodies to use.

And Back Again!

So, 2011? So far, not a great year for my poor little blog. Or my comic, for that matter... but I'm back again!

Here's what I've been up to lately:

• Getting Strawberry Syrup back up and running. My readers had to sit through one heck of a long hiatus this year, but I finally buckled down and took my own advice to build up a buffer of pages before I ended the hiatus, so with any luck, they won't have to put up with another gap for quite some time.
• Working on a few new items for my Etsy shop. A few new boxes, a few new sketch journals... One out of four is currently listed, so those are slowly going up.
• Learning how to sew. My sister-in-law has been kind enough to show me how to use her spare machine, because we all know if I tried it on my own with no direction, it would end up imploding or catching on fire. In true Kit tradition, I'm not terribly interested in, oh, clothes. Nope, my thing is bags, pouches, and other items you can put things in. The fabric equivalent of boxes, if you will. Once I master the sewing machine (or, ya know, am reasonably capable of sewing a straight line), I plan on making little pouches with embroidery worth of hanging off any Renaissance Festival-goer's belt.
• Watching Blue Exorcist on Hulu. GREAT series. Right up my alley... especially considering I don't usually watch subbed. I was also watching Tiger and Bunny, but I need to catch up on that one. As for dubbed, it's all Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood on Cartoon Network. It's wrapping up, but it makes waiting a week between episodes sheer torture.

And that would be what I've been up to this summer. Hope your summers went well. ^^

Bumpy Starts

And 2011 gets off to... a bumpy start.

The impact of cold and flu season aside, in early-to-mid January, my beloved laptop started making a horrible whining and whirring noise. It would start quiet, then start increasing in intensity and pitch until it sounded like it was seconds from imploding.

Needless to say, there was a mad dash to get everything backed up on an external hard drive and a trip to the local Geek Squad there... who kept it for two weeks.

But all is well now in Kitland. I've got my baby back, and thanks to a new fan, it no longer sounds like it's planning to kill me the first chance it gets. Maybe now things can finally get back on track!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Or Happy Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings, whatever you prefer. Hope you guys have a good one! ^_^

Anyways, I've come to the conclusion that the best way to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender is in a week-long marathon (Thank you, Nicktoons Network!). Six hours a day for five days straight, and there aren't too many shows I could sit through that with. What's more, it lets you fully appreciate just how good the story telling is in that show.

That, and it's a handy way of purging a certain horrifically done live action movie from one's brain...

IT LIIIIIIVES!

*fwump*

Yep, still alive over here in Kitland. Sorry for going MIA for two months. The cold I mentioned in the last post? Hadn't gone away by the end of October. Turned out it was bronchitis. Which, I suppose, explained the extra dose of fatigue...

Sadly, NaNoWriMo just... didn't happen this year. I got about 10K in, but just didn't have the energy for it (I blame the bronchitis). Most of November and December have been spent trying to catch up - November, catching up from everything I neglected in October, and December with the everything I didn't do in November while I was trying to catch up from October. It really is a whole vicious cycle. Or a downward Spiral of Doom. Whichever you prefer.

In any case, I am almost back on track with Strawberry Syrup. Heck, I might even finish this chapter sometime soon!

Next goal: getting back on track with my blog. XD

Sometimes Research is Gyaaaaaah

I put off this week's page of Strawberry Syrup as long as possible. It's one I've been dreading ever since it was conceived. Why, you ask? What could be so bad about this particular page?

I'm arachnophobic, and this page has a close up of a spider.

Just drawing a spider wouldn't be bad. I know from years of them dropping on me, crawling on me, and generally doing their best to freak me out what spiders look like from a distance. However, this was a close up, and like any responsible artist, rather than just wing it, I grit my teeth, braced myself, and headed over to deviantArt to check out spiders in the photography section.

Now, I'm not as bad as I used to be. A few years back, I went on an ill-thought-out canoe trip with two other people. I'd never been canoeing before... and it turned out that neither of the other people had any idea what they were doing. Fortunately, it was a calm river, but I had to learn fairly quick how to steer a canoe from the middle when the person in front kept strong-arming us into the shore with epically bad paddling skills.

During one of those collisions with driftwood and whatnot, a branch fell into the canoe. Turned out there must have been a spider convention on that branch, because five minutes later, once we're into the middle of the river and I've finally commandeered the other paddle from Captain Disaster and Person #3 has been worked up into a thorough panic, there were at least twenty small to medium size spiders crawling all over the boat.

Running away screaming was not exactly an option, and we already had one person near-hysterical, so I managed to keep my cool, ditch the branch, ignore or slay most of the spiders, and calm #3 down enough to follow directions. Since that day, I haven't felt that utter terror that used to accompany the mere thought of spiders.

That doesn't mean I like them or love looking at them.

Gyah. GYAAAAAH. I am so gonna have nightmares tonight! ><;;

Home Improvements

This has been an interesting month. Terrible for blogging and doing anything productive, online-wise, but still interesting. We're in the process of making a few home improvements - specifically, new vanity tops in the bathrooms and, for the big one, new floors through much of the ground floor. Seeing as I'm from a family of packrats and clutterbugs, this means a LOT of packing things up to relocate them during the installation.

Exactly HOW I fit so much stuff into such tiny spaces, I do not know. I'll have to take some pictures.

Anyways, my goal for today is to get one more finished pic up in my deviantArt gallery, so I snagged one from a recent sketch session to try and get that done. If not, I'll have a fresh pic for August, then.

I figured this one was a nice, summery one. Girl eating a Popsicle - nice variation from the typical girl-in-a-bikini pics that usually show up when someone wants to do something summer-like. It's half-inked right now... and outlining in Photoshop takes forever, but it gives me a smoother line than in MangaStudio. I'm still not sure what I'll put in the background, but we'll see what shows up!

Okay, back to work!

Back from Vacation!

Yep, just got back from a trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We hit Mackinaw (City, not the island this time around), St. Ignace, Bay Mills, and Tahquamenon Falls (yeah, I'll give you a few minutes to figure out how to pronounce that one). Weather wasn't spectacular - I think the highest we hit was 65F, and at one point ended up buying a new hoodie just to ward off the cold while shopping.

Some trips are just destined to have problems. We figured that was the way this trip was heading when my mother dumped a hummingbird feeder full of sugar water all over herself before we even left the house. The trip went on to include: more roadkill deer than I've ever seen in my life, salmonella-licious chicken and a saladless salad bar at the casino restaurant, a screw-up at the hotel regarding the reservations, and everybody's favorite combination of a dead car battery and no cell reception.

But there was a lot of great things about the trip. For one thing, I made enough off the complementary tokens at the casino to cover my shopping spree at Mackinaw Crossings and my favorite store ever. For another, the falls were beautiful and I got a ton of great photos, which will be appearing in future posts once I downsize them from GIGANTIC. I'll probably adapt a few of them for my Zazzle shop and maybe in an "Other Things to See" segment on my Mackinac Island lens.

I'll talk more about the trip and what absolutely made my day next time. :D

Surgery: Not Fun

Well, maybe it is for surgeons. I don't remember any of it, thanks to the blessing of anesthesia. Unfortunately, that blessing came with the not so great side effects that led to me camping out on the couch asleep or wishing I was asleep for most of last week. But at least it's over with now. All I'm gonna say about the surgery is that it was minor, relatively painless, and according to the surgeon went well, so that's a relief.

Now then, there is one other part of surgery that I'm not terribly fond of: IVs. In this case, after a few tries, the nurses opted for the back of my hand. My dominant hand. So that's a rather sore bruise at the moment, one that is making it pretty darn clear that I will not be drawing a comic page this week. Or anything else digitally. Which, of course, means my muse has suddenly woken up and gone, "Oh, hey! You know what would be really cool? How about drawing a (insert cool idea)? Or what about (another cool idea)? Wouldn't that be sweet?"

Oi.

Anyways, enough whining. Time for me to at least get back on posting schedule!

Nervous, Nervous, Nervous...

In case you didn't catch it from the title, I'm a touch nervous today. Have been for the past week or so. I'm scheduled for (minor) surgery tomorrow morning - bright and early. I've got to be there at 5:30am. At least there shouldn't be much of a wait...

Anyways, there won't be a comic this week. And now, back to being nervous...

Rough Week

Oi. Last week was a rough one. One dental appointment for fillings, one doctor appointment to send me to a specialist, one specialist appointment to tell me I need minor surgery. Lots of fun... -_-;;

I'm not sure if I'll be doing the comic this week. My brother has suggested that I see if anyone's interested in doing guest comics, which while it's kinda short notice for THIS week, I think I may ask for them for when I go on hiatus at the end of the chapter. It could be fun! (ya know, assuming anyone's interested in doing it)

Anyways, that's pretty much the update on why there weren't any posts last week. Wheeee...

The Great Cleaning of 2010

Twice a year, my subdivision gives people an extra incentive to go on a major cleaning spree: an all pick-up trash day. The spring cleaning one was today, which means I spent a large chunk of my weekend - you guessed it - cleaning. The focus this time was on my room, namely clearing it out enough that one can actually walk from one side of the bed rather than climbing over it.

Mission: success! Cleared out plenty of junk, reorganized things into a more orderly fashion, and even sent a few bags of clothes off to Goodwill.

Of course, Spring Cleaning isn't quite finished yet. Up next is the Great Dusting of 2010, also known as the Culling of the Dustbunnies. It may require a mask - at the very least, open windows. The abnormality in space and time known as my closet will have to wait, I think, until the September all pick-up, lest its contents once again overwhelm my room and all adjoining spaces.

Insomnia

So every now and then, I go through periods where it takes me really long to fall asleep. It can last anywhere from a day or two to a week or two. I can be drop-dead tired... and I still don't fall asleep, which means still being awake at, oh, eight in the morning. Yeah, it doesn't exactly top my list of pleasant things. Tends to turn me into walking zombie. Depending on just how little sleep I've gotten, a cheerful bubbly yet none-too-bright zombie. Also have a tendency to ramble.

So I'm really kinda proud of myself for actually focusing long enough to get this week's page done, even if it was about as late as it could have been without being posted Thursday. Add to that, all the itty bitty issues that popped up with a new version of Manga Studio. Oh, nothing major, but everything from setting panel margin widths to exporting differences... definite test for someone with an insomnia-spurred attention deficiency. So definite feeling of victory there... even if I did completely forget to add the text to Dwayne's shirt.

Anyways. As far as the whole insomnia problem, we'll try the whole "little mental stimulation before bed" thing. Now, on to finishing this week's episode of Supernatural.

75% Good, Maybe 25% Eh

Well, I've had a few days to play around with the new laptop, and so far I'm pretty happy! It's lightweight, only needs an extra fan when its playing WoW, runs WoW beautifully, and can even function with other programs running at the same time. I'm adapting well to Office, and I'm starting to get used to the different screen proportions - this one's longer and squatter than my former Toshiba, so that takes a little time to acclimate there. And Windows 7 seems to be working pretty well for me.

Things I'm not so fond of: the control panel that keeps trying to pull out every time my cursor wanders too close to the left side of the screen, some of the Win7 navigation, and the fact that I can't figure out how to set up my tablet. Seriously. I know it's not the laptop's fault, but I can't find my pressure sensitivity, and that's kiiiiinda important for the whole art thing.

I'll probably have to draft my brother to figure out that last one...

But overall, yeah, so far way more good than bad. I'm happy.

New Laptop!

Yes, I know, I move at the pace of molasses, but when a purchase is going to cost me more than $500, I like to take my time.

And if I'd been able to find a piece of machinery that could actually handle what I want it to, I would have been ecstatic. Between the laptop itself, the service package (which, we learned after my father's famous "Don't worry, we'll get that LATER! :D," is best purchased at the same time as the laptop), Office, and all that fun stuff, I ended up dropping close to $1500. Oy.

Anyways, I opted for a lovely Toshiba Satellite A505, which is the upgrade to my current model... which I am still using for the time being. The new one is currently going through the lengthy - and I do mean lengthy - WoW install. Hopefully, everything will be transferred over by the end of tonight, and I'll actually be able to use it.

'90s Nostalgia

Lately, my family has been spending Saturday nights reliving the joys of one of our favorite series from the nineties: Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, courtesy of Netflix. Sure, it's corny, and silly, and the costumes make no sense (the hats... what were they thinking with the hats?), but it's fun, and that's what we've always loved about it.

Of course, back in '94, the special effects didn't look QUITE as ridiculous, but hey, you can still get that same stunning quality in certain SyFy movies.

In any case, it's got me all nostalgic for the great series of my tween-to-teen years. I mean, there were some fantastic shows then. A few of my other favorites, in no particular order, were:

• Quantum Leap


• The X-Files


• Highlander


• SeaQuest DSV


• Are You Afraid of the Dark?


• Buffy: The Vampire Slayer


• Farscape


• Pretender


• Sliders


• Forever Knight


• Mystery Science Theater 3000

Yeah, you can tell where my interests lie. XD Those are the ones I'm pretty sure I'd still enjoy now (and thanks to SyFy, I do still get to enjoy Highlander and X-Files on a near nightly basis) and not counting the slew of kids shows on Nick that I used to watch on a regular basis. I just don't know if I'd enjoy Clarissa Explains It All, Hey Dude, and Welcome Freshman now as much as I did as a kid. Are You Afraid of the Dark, on the other hand, I'm fairly confidant I'd still enjoy at least a few episodes of.

Hm... I should look into hunting a few of these down... Anyone out there have any favorite shows from the '90s?

Hello, March!

Well, the Olympics are over, snow is still on the ground, and it is officially the start of a new month. Time for this month's To Do List! In no particular order, here are my goals for March:

• Finish 2009's NaNo.


• Get Strawberry Syrup back on track.


• Get my hands on a copy of Rachel Caine's Midnight Alley. *shakes a fist at the local bookstores*


• Sit my butt down and actually update my Squidoo lenses.


• Add more stuff to my Zazzle shop.


• Get stuff sent out.


• Keep up with my writing routine.

I'm keeping it simple. Got a few minor goals to round out the major ones, and then a few "if Kit works really hard and the stars align" goals to aim for. I've already made a good start on that first one today. Why yes, there is a reason I spent a good chunk of the afternoon researching common town names, last names meanings, the native tree life of Michigan, and topics for high school essays on Hamlet.

More seriously, I have finally, finally cleared out the debris from that roadblock and moved into the actual writing phase again. Kinda sucks that I'm going to have to quit sometime tonight to get that next page of Strawberry Syrup started... I don't even want to think about how much my drawing skills have deteriorated after not using them for a month.

In Need of a New Laptop

Let me start by saying this: I love my Toshiba Satellite. It has served me very well since 2003 or 2004.

Unfortunately... it has been serving me since 2003 or 2004, and it is starting to have problems. It's starting to go slow, windows don't show up on the task bar, it's been overheating and randomly shutting off, and on occasion, it has trouble finding the power to run both the cooling fan and my tablet. It's been a good laptop... but it's time to put it out to pasture.

I'm thinking about another Toshiba. I will not be getting a Mac - lovely and fantastic as they are for digital art, they are oh so hard on the pocket book - and I'm not too fond of Gateways, but any other than that, I'm open-minded. Any suggestions?

The Case of the Mysterious Missing Book

For everyone out there who spent their childhood with their nose buried in a book, there is that one story, that one that sticks with them for years - hopefully in a good way and not in an emotionally scarring Clan of the Cave Bear way. For me, that book was The House on Hackman's Hill, by Joan Lowery Nixon.

I read this book in second grade. Nearly twenty years later, I can still remember being curled up on the couch, eyes wide and heart pounding as something slowly crept up the stairs towards where the main characters were hiding in the old abandoned house on their quest to find a missing mummy. Its portrayal of Anubis is actually what started my life-long love of mythology.

I can't tell you how well written the book was, or whether it would make all the creative writing students and teachers out there cringe (the fact that it was middle grade genre fiction would probably have a good chunk of them banging their heads right there - they miss so many good reads that way). All I can say is that I loved that book.

In fact, I loved it enough that I lent it out to a friend... and never saw that copy of it again. About five years ago, I ran into a newly reprinted version in the book store by chance and had to pick it up. Unfortunately, I didn't have a surplus of free time right then, and thanks to university burn-out, I didn't really want to read anything, mentally taxing or not, so I put it in a safe place, vowing to read it again someday and try to figure out just what it was that snagged me as an eight year old.

Safe places are the last place you want to put anything you ever actually want to see again.

The last time I remember seeing the book was a few months ago. It was still right where I had left it, still waiting. And I could have sworn I left it there. And yet, when I went to go find it earlier today... Gone. Again. No sign of it anywhere.

Since then, I have scoured my room and the spare room, everywhere I have stashed any books in the last two years or so. No sign of it anywhere. It has, once again, gone missing, this time a victim of the mystical Bermuda Triangle-like vortex that is my room.

No doubt it will someday reemerge, spat back out into our dimension where I can snatch it up and finally reread it again. Until then, I found a few more books hiding in the nooks and crannies that I never got around to reading, so the scouring wasn't a total waste of time!

An Eventful Week

This has been a rather eventful week... I did get the next page of Strawberry Syrup done, and I'm actually pretty proud of this page. Did some interesting effects, panels were actually filled, the characters cooperated... I am actually pretty happy with page 18.

I'm not sure how things are going to go in the next few weeks. My grandmother passed away yesterday, so my family is dealing with that. We'll see how things go.