A 1970 Corvette

It's been awhile! I haven't drawn in quite some time, but lately I've found new inspiration! A lot has happened as well, and I feel so much more capable when it comes to drawing now. I've started using Krita; here's my first little batch of doodles:

 
There are a number of developments here. First off, you may notice...that I'm sketching! Yes, this is my big breakthrough! I've been drawn for years and never did I ever sketch, ever! I'd draw a stick figure frame and some rough environment and basically just build the final product directly on top of that. I've basically been drawing backwards this entire time. Why? Well, when it came to pencil-and-paper, I always held my pencil far, far too hard to sketch. So I was just sort of predisposed to this idea that I just couldn't sketch. I partly also figured that sketching was just something I'd do once I got better, because all the good artists, they always sketch. But then I realized: artists do not sketch because they are good, they are good because they sketch. And boy, sketching is just so, so freeing! Like, a way to draw where you don't have to worry about being perfect because what you are drawing is not representative of the final product? Insane! It's so much fun! And it makes drawing everything so much easier because you can actually set everything up before you draw the final! Gosh, what the hell was I doing!?
 
Secondly...I've started using Krita, as I mentioned. Up until now, I've been using Adobe Animate. Then I thought...why am I still using Adobe Animate? I originally started using it because I wanted to animate and make that cartoon, which I did. But for now, I just want to draw. And Animate is just balls for drawing. Even Paint.NET is better for full 2D art than Animate. Every simple thing in Animate takes like 10 steps compared to PDN or Krita, it's insane. I'm very much enjoying Krita and look forward to being able to expand my game now that I'm not restrained by Animate's shitty technical limitations.
 
And finally...I want to evolve my artstyle! As I've drawn I've gotten a lot better, but my artstyle has stayed the same. Which may sort of sound like the point of having an artstyle, but my artstyle was always very geometric, and as I got better, I developed the ability to draw less and less geometric characters. Basically, my skill had surpassed my artstyle. So I feel like it's time that I evolve my artstyle, into something that allows me to make full use of my ability. I'm still experimenting around, still playing with everything, but I'm excited to really develop my art. It's nice to draw again!

That was quick.

I've definitely been on the "really should just run linux" thought train as a lot of things that were barriers have been eroded away over time. I keep thinking "I really need to just rip off the bandaid and go for it" but it's hard to get off my lazy ass and do it.
 
Maybe when this version I'm running is officially dropped from support

I've definitely been on the "really should just run linux" thought train as a lot of things that were barriers have been eroded away over time. I keep thinking "I really need to just rip off the bandaid and go for it" but it's hard to get off my lazy ass and do it.
 
Maybe when this version I'm running is officially dropped from support

Since Corv complained about the background, it got me thinking: how hard would it be to import modern art into Windows 3.1 and actually have a decent looking background?
 
Answer: not very:
 

I think his newer GD's are a little rougher than they used to be, but I can rewatch shit like Trackmania: Canyon all day long. 

I have no idea why Ran is consistently associated with mathematics in fanart, but I ain't complaining
 

The virgin HP Printer:
 
"Please insert more yellow ink (even though you just bought some).  You cannot print at all, or even use the inboard scanner until this is done.  And be sure to use only HP verified products, or we'll know."
 
The Chad Brother printer:
 
"REPLACE DRUM NOW.  But, if you want to print another fifty pages that's totally cool.  And while we'd prefer you get genuine brother replacements, if you want to get an off brand that's a tenth the cost we're not gonna stop you."

Going from news reports, Sam Hyde has already given his life multiple times while fighting for Ukraine.

They could be you! They could be me! They could even be

The better question is who gave you a VCR for Christmas? That's a gift from either somebody who cares a lot or somebody who doesn't care at all.

We're saying goodbye to my first car ever, the 2000 ford mustang that was handed down from brother to brother until the very end. Of all of them, I adored it the most. While it was a pile of junk in all ways a car could be, it never entirely gave up on me. I will admit the most recent issue it began to develop, which is revving itself with no outside input and always wanting to go to 55 mph, was particularly concerning. I never really had any particular fond memories made in it, no high school kisses in the front seat or profound experiences or anything. The most fun I remember was driving home my brother and his friends after they ate way too much sushi and hitting every bump a little too fast just to mess with them. Other than that, a lot of driving to and from college, some scares when I thought it might break down, some moments of triumph when I fixed a little part of it like the A/C for one summer. Perhaps just the spirit of my dad always saying "when it that thing going to finally kick the bucket?" and me defiantly starting it up every time and it getting the job done was enough to have me come to love it as a car.
 
Unfortunately it wouldn't smog (even with our profound processes of getting it to smog that worked for several years in the past) and we have a replacement '00 mustang in much better shape just literally lying around, so... It was a little traumatic to cannibalize it for some parts but now I'm going off to get it scrapped. I suppose I can rest easy knowing at least some bits of it are with me in the new car.
 
Or I can stop being so dramatic because it's just a tool for moving from point a to point b and I'm replacing it with a nearly identical tool that has all the same functions as it. I did take a bunch of pictures and a video of it though so I can hopefully look back on it fondly one day.

I grew up in rural areas and even the "urban" areas where I've lived later on would be considered "small towns" by a lot of people on the coasts.  In my first house my "next door neighbors" were my Grandparents, who were a fifteen minute walk away.  The next house after that was about another half hour on foot, and getting to the nearest town (which had a gas station, three bars, and a convenience store) would take a couple hours (on foot).  Public transportation ain't gonna fix that, you need a car.  Even when we moved "into town" later on it was a half hour drive any time we wanted to go shopping for movies, music, computer games, etc.
 
And even during my childhood we never thought we were that isolated because we had a set of relatives who were really in the middle of nowhere.  I'm talking "better plan out when you fill up with gas because you might run out before you get there" isolated.
 
Unless you make America a fiftieth of its current size, you're going to need cars for the foreseeable future.
 
But the flip side of all of this is that getting a car is a real visible sign of independence, especially if you live in less sparsely populated areas.  Suddenly you can hop in your car, drive for an hour or two and end up somewhere completely different, almost like stepping into another world.
 
There's nothing wrong about getting sentimental about a crappy car.

I'm not even a car guy and I got sentimental over giving up my first car, a '99 chevy cavalier. My parents handed it down to me when I started college, and I ended up using it for several years. But eventually the maintenance costs became unjustifiably high, and I decided to donate it before it could fall apart with me inside it.
 
This is probably hard to understand for those of you who live in real first-world countries with decent public transportation, but for us Americans, your first car is your first taste of independence. Especially if you live in the suburbs of a sprawling city like mine, and everything important is at least 10 miles (16.0934 km (16,0934 if you're one of those weirdos who uses a comma for decimals)) away from your house. 
 
By the way, don't donate your old cars if you want to be sure they'll be put to good use. Less than a month after the cavalier was towed away, I was given notice that it was parked illegally and about to be impounded. Whoever got it clearly didn't need it that badly. 

They could be you! They could be me! They could even be

They could be you! They could be me! They could even be

On one of his many, many, OJ Simpson related bits Norm Macdonald does a fake phone call with OJ.  During the phone call OJ Simpson gives out the number "1-800-555-0165" twice as a number to call to get his new video showing why he didn't really do the crime.  Near the end of the bit Norm requests to say the number again.  Each time it is read off the number is said slowly and carefully.
 
Now obviously this is a fake number, but what is its purpose?  If it was just being used as a fake number there would be no need to repeat it, and especially not twice.  There also wouldn't be an attempt to say the number clearly, since the number would actually be more inconspicuous if the "555" didn't have attention drawn to it.  Since Norm has been known to intentionally put a hidden level of humor into things, the obvious purpose would be to have a hidden joke.  But what could it be?  My first thought was that the last four digits (those being the only unique to the number) actually spelled out a word like "GILT" or something to continue on Norm's long tradition of never being able to say that OJ was guilty too many times.  But neither 0 nor 1 correspond to any letters, and it's hard to do anything with just two numbers.  I've looked online and all I can find in reference to this number are a couple of Norm references and some ARG that apparently included this number (probably as a reference to the skit.)
 
...wait, with 65 you can do "OJ."  Is it as simple as that?  It'd be a huge unnecessary setup for no payoff, but with Norm there's a very real possibility that the entire point is having a large setup for no payoff.

I finished my first VN route without a translation today! It was a very simple slice of life romcom VN that I'm sure about twelve people on earth really remember but it's still a victory in my book.
 
At times I really wondered if I was taking in the stuff I was reading, and how much I was just glancing past, but at the same time, that's almost exactly how I read english, so... I wasn't overtly confused by much so I think I can consider this a win for me. Now if only I could manage to put together a coherent sentence in japanese, I'd be able to maybe pass an elementary school test

I finished my first VN route without a translation today! It was a very simple slice of life romcom VN that I'm sure about twelve people on earth really remember but it's still a victory in my book.
 
At times I really wondered if I was taking in the stuff I was reading, and how much I was just glancing past, but at the same time, that's almost exactly how I read english, so... I wasn't overtly confused by much so I think I can consider this a win for me. Now if only I could manage to put together a coherent sentence in japanese, I'd be able to maybe pass an elementary school test

I finished my first VN route without a translation today! It was a very simple slice of life romcom VN that I'm sure about twelve people on earth really remember but it's still a victory in my book.
 
At times I really wondered if I was taking in the stuff I was reading, and how much I was just glancing past, but at the same time, that's almost exactly how I read english, so... I wasn't overtly confused by much so I think I can consider this a win for me. Now if only I could manage to put together a coherent sentence in japanese, I'd be able to maybe pass an elementary school test