So I found a refurbished iPad on the Apple site for really cheap.

My old one...the one that I won as first prize in the Douglas Adams contest back in 2012.....she has had a long a fruitful run. I blogged it all if you wanna look back at it. I believe it is Jan through June of 2012. She was a Ipad gen 3. I won it like 4 or 5 months before the gen 4 came out, but right after it was released. Yeah that year they released them really close together. It is a signal of my accomplishment. It is a reminder of what I can do. It is a memory of Stephen Fry (aaaaaaah) calling my work a love letter that was cute but not too precious. It is a memory of Bob Stein looking me up and giving me a call and saying he thought my comedic choices were good, and that he thought I had talent and potential. He told me to contact him when I was ready to go pro. It is also a reminder of how petty people can be, as it is the only part of the whole prize package I actually recieved.

She has served me well. However, years and years of use and a buse has made her....weary. I have struggled for years to keep her going. I personally replaced the battery andthe bluetooth, and I replaced the screen and digitizer at least 4 times. I have an issue with my joints, and that means from time to time my hands just release and stop holding whatever it is I am holding. Sometimes that means the ipad she ended up on the floor. 😞 When I had a good case for her it was fine. When I didn’t....well that is the reason the screen and digitizer was replaced so many times. This last time when I went to replace the screen I found some internal damage that was fatal. Well, almost. She had been dropped so many times the metal tags that hold the LCD screen in place were completely sheered off. Even though the screen works fine, this means it is floating around inside the iPad and it cannot sync with the digitizer. I can’t just get new tabs....I have to get a whole new LCD screen. Which no one has. iFixit has them off and on, but now is not one of those on times. They also charge $45-$50 for one, without the shipping.

So I had to make a decision. Do I persist in keeping her going with bubblegum and duct tape, or do I move on? Moving on felt...wrong. Like cheating on a spouse. She has been a loyal friend, and a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. It feels wrong to just give up on her. But she is now old enough I can’t update her further than ios 9. And it will be harder and harder to keep her in action. But.....they engraved “Don’t Panic” on the back of her. But if I have to keep putting $40-$50 into her every couple of months, and she will still only be limping along, is it worth it?

Well, perusing the Apple site and finding the cheap refurbished iPad made my final decision. I bought it. And now I am testing Weebly’s newer app by posting from it.

It is sad. I feel like I betrayed a friend. I feel like we have been through so much together and I am just tossing her aside like yesterday’s jam. There is so much I have been able to accomplish just because she was there in my life. So much more I plan to accomplish, and she won’t be there by my side (or on the floor).

​ I am not going to just throw her out though. I will eventually get the new LCD screen and make her work again. Or I will gut her and put her shell in a shadowbox for my wall. For now I feel like I am mourning a friend. Is that wierd?

SOooooo......

Working, I suppose. I am so far behind. I wasn't feel great for a while, then I procrastinted, so I most likely won't have anything done for Fandance. I am still going to try, but I am sooooooo far behind. I did not stick to my timetable at all. I also changed ideas midstream. That is a very bad idea. I still want to do my original idea. I have sets built and have done test dequences and stuff. But I wrote a filk to Princess fo the Night by Saxon. It is Doctor Who themed. So now I am leaning toward a music video for that. I want to do both, but reality tells me that both won't be completed in time. I need to stop being so indecisive. So now I am sitting in a pizza place forcing myself to plan and design, after which I will go home and build. And record the song. I ended up needing to take my uke in for a tune up. It wouldn't stay in tune for more than a few chords. Makes it difficult to record a song when your instrument won't stay in tune for the whole song. It is all good now. So I really need to do that today.

I also spent most of the day fueling my bad self with caffiene. Kind of over did it. My brain is kind of all over the place right now. I am hoping food will help drill down my focus a bit so I can get some stuff done.

Ok, I probably should finish eating and do some actual planning before ileave here. At least have a plan for the rest of the day. 

EDIT: So I came home and worked a little bit. I have decided to dress several of my little guy as Doctors. For your edification, as well as my memory of which soldier is to get which costume, here is a labeled picture:

So the next step is to glue magnets to their feet, then figure out how to clothe the little buggers. I made the ones with plumes to Baker, as I can hide with hat and hair, and Matt Smith, for the same reason. I plan to make little glasses for Tennent and go see if I can find teeny, tiny celery for Davison. 

I did not get anything recorded yet, though i did practice for a good long while tonight. My goal is to get it done tomorrow, post it to Soundcloud and then here so you can hear it. I think it is very clever, if I do say so myself. And it is fun. I just have to quit being so picky about how my uke playing sounds. 

So now I need to get to bed, as I haven't been sleeping well and I need to make myself sleep tonight so i can function. 

I leave you with a pic of my RPG test set:

So much for getting writing done today. I took a break at noon to check on the status of my prize, the new iPad, even though yesterday the Fedex website said it wouldn't be here til Monday. You know how it is when you are excited to get a new toy. So I checked the tracking number, and for some reason it was put on the truck this morning, to be delivered before 4:30pm. I was at the place I am housesitting, which is across town from my house. I threw on my shoes and grabbed the next bus over there. Fortunately it didn't arrive before I got there. Both it and the case arrived today. So yes, I spent the afternoon playing with my new and frustrating toy. Wanna see it??

This makes me so happy. Happy and frustrated. It doesn't want to do anything I want it to do. For now I am going to mark that up to not knowing iPads very well. As I couldn't commit nor have the credit to get the cell model, it only has a wireless card. And as there is no wifi where I am right now, I can't transfer files from or to it. I have tried by bluetooth, but it keeps saying I don't have the services, and then does not explain which services they mean, and I can't find it anywhere on the intertubes. I took some pictures and video with the new iPad. Also would like to transfer my ebooks over. The camera, in spite of all the rave reviews I have read about it, took grainy pictures in indoor light and mushy fuzzy in outdoor light. I can't find any kind of controls for that. I am hoping that it is because I haven't learned how to use it properly yet. Or there is an app I can buy that will give me more control.

Either way, I have my toy. Tomorrow, we write. No ifs ands or buts.

I don't have a lot to say today. I just don't want to go too long without putting in a post. It seems to be a habit with me to leave it for too long then say it has been too long. I have been working on writing scripts and fleshing out ideas. I made an attempt at taking a picture of the brickwork on the castle (see previous post) and replicating it over and over to cover the white spot in the middle of it. I failed, but I think that is mainly because I am not sure exactly how to do it. I will try again later when my frustration at myself has died down. Or it might just end up a cheesy grey piece of construction paper. We shall see when I get closer to needing it.

Last night I was laying in bed flipping through my list of eBooks, and came across The Meaning of Liff. If you haven't encountered this book before, it was written by Douglas Adams and it is a "dictionary" of terms. He made most of the words up, but he constructed the definitions for all of them. In my tired haze I thought "hmm....a book based on the word in this would be hilarious". In my end of day not-so-tired haze, I still think it is a good idea. I think it would be fun. I also need something at which to direct my writing practice. So I have decided I am going to try to write a book using all of the words from the Meaning of Liff. Of course, I would have to preface it by saying "USE THIS BOOK, NOT YOUR BRAIN TO TRANSLATE", as some of the words have real world definitions that are completely different than his. To tie it into my Rl-RPG, I am going to write 1000 words a day on it, and get XP points for it. I am barely at level 2 in most of my categories. I don't even want to make a new infographic, it is that pathetic. I am still working on it, just not as enthusiastically. I think I may need to change the nature of my game as well. I want to make stop motion more an integral part of the storyline. I have some definite goals now, so it will be easier. And I think I may cheat and start my character at level 6.

I have also decided to redesign how I set up my sets. Right now it is all based on an old cookie tin, which is deep enough to set the camera in the set, but too deep to use the tripod. The bonus so far has been that it brings the set up to a height that is less straining on my back. I can sit in my chair and not hunch, or stand a hunch a little. I am going to play around with cutting a hole in the backdrop to see if I can move it forward and back without making too many issues. I could slide the cookie tin further back through the set if I want it closer to the tripod. Or maybe I should redevise what I use for a floor. I haven't decided yet.

Any suggestions or comments about anything here are welcome.

Anyway, that's about all I have to say. Nothing profound. Nothing really interesting. Just daily life stuff. Just cause I am in a random mood, here is a pic from the Eddie Izzard Cake or Death video I did last year. Enjoy. 

Um, you know that video contest, the one that I worked so hard on to get a video completed, and then shamelessly pandered for votes and views? Well, it has just been announced. The winners, I mean.

                               I WON!!!!

Holy freakin cow! I am SO excited! I rarely win anything, and I SO needed a win about now. And this time it is a literal win. The people running the contest have been really nice the last few weeks, with all my questions and demand for answers.

I am trying to think of something clever to say here, but I really cannot. I am just too excited!!! :)

This is just what I needed to feed the fear monster...poison for his fallacious logic. I have a lot of work ahead of me to become the animator I want to be, but this confirms that my sense of humor and need for a storyline aren't lost on others. I am headed in the right direction.


And it feels good!

EDIT: As promised, here is the winning video:

Oh my have I ever fallen down on my RL-RPG. A mild bout with depression has caused me to stop writing anything. Somethings are still happening, but lots of it is not. I am not giving up, though. I still haven't found the task manager app that will work for me. At least one that is free. There may be some out there that you have to pay for, but until employment happens that isn't going to happen. Wow, I keep using that word. Negative points for redundancy. :)

So it is just 10 short days until the winner of the Douglas Adams Video Contest is announced. I wish it were over already. I hate limbo states, and this is the limbo-est. Not that it matters either way, I just want to know. I notice that although votes no longer count, they are still taking them. My video goes between #1 and #2. And I am not voting for myself, nor have I tweeted or posted the link since the list was published. I guess that means some people out there like it. :)

So now I am aching for another project. I have had to concentrate on getting bill money, so I haven't done much. It is killing me. I am still housesitting so I don't have my sets and guys and other stuff. I am considering developing a little show to pitch to those that have You Tube channels. You know, like Felicia Day's Geek & Sundry, Chris Hardwick's Nerdist, Kevin Smith's S.I.T. I could create my own You Tube channel, but if I could get it successfully on one of those I would get a wider audience. And mine wouldn't be a CHANNEL channel, just a regular one like most people have. It would be really fun. Maybe I will set a goal for myself to have developed a set of characters and a premise by the end of the day today. If I make this, even if I don't get it on one of the famous people's channels, I can create my own or pitch it to another site like Cracked or something. Producing something might also help me kick my butt out of the depression I have settled into. Let me tell you, it is hard to stay positive when every single job you apply for is a rejection and you have NO way to pay your bills cause you are out of savings and have nothing left to sell. I have managed to raise $50 of the $500 I need. Go me.

Now I feel the need to go rest my head on a wall Charlie Brown style and yell.

Why is this so hard?  SIGH

I have been asked to write a 50-ish word blurb about myself to be posted on the Douglas Adams Video Contest site. This should be easy, right? I mean, I know about myself. I made the video. So why is is so hard to talk about myself?

I guess part of the problem is not knowing what to put in, and what to leave out. I can do this for anyone else. I have done it for other people. But when it comes to myself, maybe there is just too much information. I am never sure quite what should be included and what is TMI.

I am leaning toward a humorous approach. That would be right in line with a Douglas Adams event. Argh. This deadline is looming and nothing is coming. Ok...this may be apropos. Mr. Adams was known for missing deadlines and needing his editor to sit on him until he produced pages for his books. One of my favorite quotes of his is "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

I also have to come up with a picture, which is harder than you might think. I haven't had my picture taken professionally since 1995. I know this is going to shock you, but generally I don't take pictures of myself. I have several pictures that friends have taken, but they aren't exactly flattering. I mean. they aren't bad, but they aren't exactly the type you'd put up on a website next to a blurb about yourself.

Enough procrastination. I mainly wrote this post to get myself in the mindset to write this thing. I think I am ready. I shall get to it.

Well, that was more than satisfactory. I received contact from the Douglas Adams Video Contest people. I clearly asked for specifics, and I got clear specifics. They may have been disorganized, but they are now on top of it. I think they may have underestimated my emotional investment in this contest. And also, maybe I need to tone down my emotional investment in this contest. :) Either way, looks like they are publishing a short list. I haven't been to the site yet. I will look at it later today. Also, and this is the exciting part, they want to put some of the better animations on BBC. There are a few other places mentioned, but right now I can't remember them off the top of my head and I still have other things I need to do so I need to make this post a quick one. It is also 6:30am, pre caffienation. Overall, whether I win or lose, it has been a great experience. As a customer service person, I firmly believe it isn't whether or not there are frustrations, but how those frustrations are handled. I am a person who has enough ambiguity in her life. When I ask direct questions, I like and expect direct answers. It impresses me when I actually get that. It has also been nice to push myself and see what I can actually accomplish.

On another note, I still haven't finished the tank top but I am almost done. I finished everything except the bottom part. After my job search today I will finish it and post pictures. I must admit I didn't work on it the whole day yesterday. It probably would be finished if I did. I am not completely happy with it, but it is my first attempt. After I am done I can tweak it and play with it.

Ok...off for coffee, job applications and crocheting. Update later today.

EDIT: Ok....that was frustrating. I got a good 5 inches into the bottom part and tried it on....not wide enough. So I had to rip it all out, which with this yarn was difficult, and I have to start over again with that part. Argh sigh. This yarn is "homespun", which means it has spots where it isn't spun enough and fuzz everywhere, which tangles when I try to undo my work. It is also single instead of plied. I think I understand why this yarn was foisted upon me.

So here is a picture of it before I have the bottom part done. Cause I am putting this frustrating project away for a few days.

I think I want to build up around the straps where they attach to the top. Maybe a little triangle or something there.

But that will be later.

Wow, it is amazing how quickly time can get away from you. I think I say that way too often. The last few days I have been dealing with a personal crisis, so crafting and stop mo have not been my priority. I think it has mainly past, so now I can concentrate again on the stuff I love. :)

Well, the contest is basically over for the Douglas Adams Video Contest. According to the rules a long list of finalists was supposed to be announced today. There is no mention on the site. When I tweeted them and asked when and where I can find the list, I was basically brushed off. The first answer was "Winners will be announced May 25th". When I replied with citation in the rules that there would be a finalist list announced April 30th, I got the equivalent of "Don't call us, we'll call you". I must admit I am disappointed. I worked really hard on that video. I did my best to follow the rules. The least they can do is follow their own rules. The video response was not that big. I am guessing mainly due to poor publicity. I think they also overestimated the number of people who can do that much work in that short amount of time. When Eddie Izzard did his contest, most of the entrants had already done a video and just submitted that. I think I was one of the few who actually started from scratch. But it really does feel like they started this contest and don't really intend to finish it. I don't think there has been anyone keeping an eye on it. There was an anti Obama video up there for weeks, which clearly was not part of the contest. But enough of my whinging. I will let you know if they get back to me or not.

In other news, my room is filled with pot smoke. Yup. And it isn't mine. I don't do that. But there is a small cafe whose back patio butts up against ours, and my bedroom is the closest to it. Even with plastic covering the windows and 2 storm windows, my room smells like Burning Man mixed with old skanky hotel room. I am not happy. Not much I can do about it, though. They are allowed to smoke outdoors. And let's face it, if the police responded to every "they're smoking pot" call they got, they would never do anything else. This is Eugene.....Hippyville. 4:20 friendly. So until I figure out a solution I am not going to spend much time in my room. Which is where I have all my stop mo stuff set up and my crafting area. It made me positively sick this weekend. I will go back to stop mo...I can't stay away for long. For now, I have started a new project. well, one that brings it full circle. One of my first craft posts was about making myself a tank top. Never completed it, then figured out the yarn I was using is silk, so decided probably not a good medium for sport wear.

Yesterday I started this:

It is going to be a tank top. I have researched a bit more about tank top construction, and have come up with a better plan. Now that I am done with job search stuff for today I am going to attempt to complete it by tomorrow. We shall see how far I get. Basic construction is crochet tube for chest portion, crochet strip for straps to be attached to, crochet straps, sew together, then crochet the rest in a tube from the bottom edge of the chest piece down. Sounds simple. We shall see if it works.

So....audio didn't get finished, and no animation happened last night. I got home from my interview so tired that I just crawled into bed and watched back episodes of the Craig Ferguson show. I didn't JUST interview. I also went to the store and got bulk items, which I had to schlepp home on the bus and carry to the bus stop and from the bus stop to my house. It took 4 hours.  Today I will do something with it. Promise.

I have updated the crappy infographic, though. You'd think I would be farther along than I am. But alas, not even half way to making it to Level 2 in anything. I have done lots of writing, but not so much practicing or tech review. Le sigh. Oh well. I will work on something today that I can post here....something with actual results.

My video at the Douglas Adams Video Contest has bumped down to #2....again. Seriously, this is getting irritating. PLEASE go over and vote for me again. Please? thanks so much. After the 30th the final list for the judges will be compiled, and so I will stop begging for votes.

Here is the latest update to the infographic.

Yeah, this is the post of fail. Main reason I am posting is to get myself to actually do something that has visible results today. I am going to go have breakfast, then get going. One thing I want to do today is try to figure out how to make myself a to-do list app that will actually do what I want. I have tried out 15 of the free apps, and none of them work for what I want them to do. I need an app that lets my missed tasks go, but marked as unfinished instead of overdue. I don't want to be bugged by tasks I didn't get done yesterday, but I want to be able to look at the list and see what did and didn't get done when I am tallying my XP. It isn't like these tasks HAVE to be done. I want a way of nudging myself to do them, and to keep track of which of those I did and didn't do. If I didn't do it today, there is another chance to do it tomorrow with the next task list.  keeping it on my list until I mark it as completed is extraneous and confusing. Most list apps require you to mark a task as completed before it will let it go. Or it deletes it. Not what I want either.

So there we go. Goals for today.

Edit: So I didn't get anything done yesterday either. I did take several hours and I found a site called Buzztouch that is a platform for developing apps. It has several videos to help you learn how to develop apps for both android and ios. I have completed several of them. At the very least I will know more about app development. last night a friend of mine wanted to cheer me up so he took me to the arcade and let me beat his ass at Mortal Combat 2. It was awesome.