Ugh. It’s been a shitty week already. I was let go from my day-job yesterday. Part of me is sad that I won’t be able to see the people every day, part of me is very relieved that I won’t be working day and night with no recognition and little pay. I’m still friends with a lot of these people and will still hang out from time to time. My phone was blowing up all day with people calling me, trying to get the inside scoop. Some were sad, most were mad at the circumstances. Me? Well, I’m ok with everything. I’m not angry. This is a natural evolution, and I plan on taking full advantage of it.

Shauna also worked for my company, and they let her go yesterday too. So, we’re both looking for work now. Luckily, I’ve already got some great possibilities from my recruiter and am meeting with a company today to do some consulting work. I have some time to think about what I want to do, and I’ll keep everyone up to date here.

Because of the aforementioned ordeal, I began doing a lot of SCS work yesterday and am currently putting together sample graphics for website work. I hope to be able to sell these packages through Millard, as he has a ton of sites he’s working on and is willing to sub-contract me. There may be more SCS-related contract work soon too.

On a lighter note, here’s a picture Millard sent me way back on September 14th. I’m just now getting around to posting it up here (bad Chewbode!).

 

Sick Thought of the Day: Interviews.

I’ve just added a section for my PlayStation 3 games in the Digital Archive. The section isn’t fully functional yet as all of the detail pages are empty, however I’ll be filling them all in over the next few weeks. I also removed the old PlayStation 2 and X-Box games sections as I’ve gotten rid of those consoles and titles. I’ll also have to find time to update all of the PC games.

I’ve recently been spending time getting Suncoast Studios up to snuff. Millard has been getting a lot of web design work and he mentioned that he wanted to sub-contract me to do 3D design for clients, if they request it. So, I came up with several different packages and corresponding pricing. There’s so much untapped potential in doing these designs that I really think it’ll be worth my time. Also, I will begin designing stock models and graphics and will put them up on the SCS website for sale.

I’ve been spending some time with Ninel over the past couple of months, and she’s doing great. It’s amazing the things you learn (but wish you didn’t have to) when one of your friends is sick. I wish I didn’t know so much about cancer cell growth, mastectomy surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation treatments. This is the first time that a close friend of mine has ever gone through something so serious. That, coupled with the fact she’s staying at home and raising her two sons while her husband works 1,000 miles away 4 days out of the week leads me to feel good about myself that I’m able to hang out with her and help her out with everything I can.

I’ve decided to start taking care of myself too. Tomorrow I start a new workout regimen. I’ve been careful with what I’m eating. I’m losing a bunch of weight casually, but it’s now time to get serious.

Sick Thought of the Day: Needles in the eardrum.

The next few weeks I plan on spending a lot of time developing a new project – the secret project – that I’ve been wanting to work on for so long. The design process will be tedious, and there’ll be things that I have to tackle I’ve never dealt with before. I’m really looking forward to figuring out the budget for the project. With the video game work coming up at the end of the year, I suspect that I’ll be able to actually open the studio next summer, and I want this project I’m working on finished before that happens.

I’m having a problem with Cubase. It seems that the license key is corrupt and I need to contact Steinberg to fix it. I’ll try to do that Monday, as I need to start really moving forward on that project too. It needs to be completed before December.

Speaking of projects, I just realized I need to sit and schedule these things out and come up with timelines. There are several things in the pipeline that need varying degrees of attention.

Today I need to run some errands (am at the office currently doing work). Then later tonight I’ll be able to start on SCS work.

Sick Thought of the Day: Gargling raw fish guts.

Lost interest in this blog? Think I’m dead, lying in a ditch somewhere? Wondering why I can’t find the time to write a few simple entries? Well, too bad. I’m not going to explain myself to you.

I’ve begun working with a company based out of Dallas, TX on some video games. I’m doing the graphics which will all be rendered in LightWave. I’ll be posting more on these projects on the Suncoast Studios site as time goes on.

One of my best friends, Ninel, was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of months ago and I’ve been spending time with her, helping out with the kids and generally trying to be a good friend. If you have the time and can spare some money, please donate to the Susan G. Komen For The Cure foundation.

I recently rebuilt the studio, from the ground up. Here are a few pictures to look at.

Creatively, I’m doing a lot lately. I recently wrote my first song, have been working on video game graphics, and continue to do some side work for friends and colleagues. I’ve also been writing more on a novel, and am prepping to start shooting a teaser trailer (one I’ve been wanting to do for years).

Several people at work are now playing World of Warcraft, so I’ve downloaded it again (am installing it now) and will be playing from time to time. I have to be careful so that it doesn’t completely consume my free time.

I bought an iPhone (16GB) a few weeks ago. I love it.

I ate a lot of Russian food Sunday night. I loved it.

I bought a new Alesis MultiMix 12 FireWire mixing board recently. I love it.

Sick Thought of the Day: Cut the eye with the razor. Milk oozes out.

Lately it seems that I can’t keep my head out of my day job/office work. As usual, there’s an enormous amount of work on my plate every day, and I end up spending huge amounts of time sitting at my desk, on conference calls, or even working from home. My mind has veered off into the tumbleweed-laden, snake-infested cool desert night. Nothing around but survival with very little hope for something more than what I’m currently engaged in. I think this is stemming from multiple things in my life currently, but I’m letting it take control, and that’s just unacceptable.

Most of my creative energy lies in the foundation of free, open thinking, in that, I need to be around creativity, to pull it into my own thoughts, digest it, and remanufacture it into my own flavor. I believe that, just as success breeds success, creativity breeds creativity. In my own experience, it is very difficult to just sit in a dark room with no stimulus and create something amazing. Creativity is the culmination of thoughts and experiences, which are driven by the fabric of your life. Hence, the more you interact and the more you learn, the more creativity is at your disposal.

It’s time to leave that desert and set sail for the lush, green, vibrant rain forest that’s full of life and adventure. To do this though will require some effort. I need to buy back more free time from my day job and wrangle up as much quality time as possible.

I’ve heavily considered moving to L.A. lately for many reasons, but have realized that I have no discipline to do so right now. My main reasons to move there would be to hang out with friends, and absorb some of their energy to produce something for myself which might not be too hard as the "industry" is a stone's-throw from that entire area. While this is a great concept, I can’t mentally afford to do that yet. I feel that the building-blocks of my creativity are not up to snuff yet. I’d like to get out there with an arsenal – my own trademark or dog-eared book full of projects that I am developing. I’m not there yet.

To pave the way to creativity, I must do some clear-cutting. The main thing I need to take an axe to is my day job’s workload. Since I’m a control freak and work-a-holic, I very rarely allow others to manage my projects. This has to change and now that I have enough staff to accomplish this, it will happen.

Starting tomorrow, I’ll begin offloading projects to my staff and getting them up to speed. They’re still a bit green, but they’ll learn quickly enough, just as I did. I will gently steer them in the right directions. My hope is that, in the next few weeks, I’ll be able to relax a bit more and move forward on my own projects, including the newly-started SCS017. SCS017 is my internal project code and I will continue to reference the project via this code from now on until the true title is revealed.

Sick Thought of the Day: Blowing masturbated milk bubbles.