The One With A Bunch of Small Stuff

This one's all about some itemizing, so maybe at the end of the year I can look and see where I was at the time. These items are broken down like this: Reads (books currently on the go), Watches (what TV shows are doing it for me right now), Plays (which games I'm currently playing the computer and/or game console), & Works (ignore the irony that this is the last 'item'. What I'm doing right now to make money or other important projects).

Here goes.....

Reads: My nose is buried in several books at the moment. I have a couple technical books on the go, mostly regarding Macromedia Flash and the various programming/coding to make it work. I'll talk about that more under 'Works.' I also have a book on blogging (whaaaaa?) for a similar purpose. For more entertaining reading.... I'm currently reading Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brien, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and Make Love! by Bruce Campbell. The Campbell book is my 'Fortress of Solitude' book as my giggling wakes up my wife if I read it in bed. Still waiting on the latest book at the library from my favorite author. After getting the audio version instead of the actual book, I'm finally in the top 20 for the waitlist. Should've just bought it, but I'd never hear the end of it.

Watches: Grey's Anatomy still has me hooked in its 3rd season. Out of all the new shows this season, the only ones I really tune into are The Class (although I liked it more before cast changes and their so-called 'new direction'), Heroes and Studio 60. I'm still watching Lost and anything else I feel like watching gets downloaded and watched on the computer at a later date. Oh, and hockey. I always watch hockey. Apparently the NHL All-Star game had a 0.7 share in the U.S. but the NHL head office is still spouting about this being a successful season. Anyone wondering whatever happened to Saddam Hussein's prime minister needs to look no further than the NHL head office. For those trying to make the connection: the Iraqi PM is the one who held the press conferences during the whole 'Shock and Awe' campaign and basically said Hussein's forces were winning.

Plays: Video game-wise, I mentioned buying a whole bunch of new games for less than $10 each. One's been installed, played and un-installed again as t was extremely frustrating. Amazing graphics, but the playability was horrendous. Hard to believe there was a sequel to it. Next on the 'to be installed' list is Left Behind: Eternal Forces, which is based on the novels by the same name. It's a post-Rapture/pre-apocalypse game where there's supposedly little violence as the people left behind try to 'convert' the people lured by dark forces over to the light. It was a $60 game in November and $5 as of last week. Doesn't speak well of its success. I still haven't read the books and the box actually had a complimentary copy of the first book. Sadly, I saw the first movie and I'm not sure if I can read it without seeing Kirk Cameron (who was in the film). If I can't read it without picturing him in the novel, I'm going to be waiting for Boner to appear at some point too. Sheesh.

Works: Oh Lord. The job-hunt continues and I've been talking with a number of former classmates who are working about any potential openings at their companies. Hopefully something happens soon and I don't have to rely on the "career advisors" ever again. I'm also branching out beyond the intended field and looking at doing something where my previous office experience is vital. Even if I get an auxiliary position for now, the potential's there for something better. Eventually....
I mentioned above that I'm perusing a number of books on Macromedia Flash. I'm upgrading my personal website and I'm hoping to make it a Flash-site (with maybe a little bit of html mixed in). In the time it took me to set up my original site, I've managed to do 2 of the buttons in Flash. This could take some time.... I also have a book on Blogging and I'm studying some techniques, again, to add some newer features to my website. Obviously, a much different blog than this one.
eBay sales have started again and I have a bunch of things selling tomorrow. 3 minutes after I listed them, I received an email message from eBay informing me of a discounted listing day the very next day. So, if I'd waited a few more minutes, I would've saved $10 on fees. Sheesh.
I've been hit by a creative bug of late when it comes to the story I've been working on for close to 20 years. As a comic story, it works out to be about 2100 pages in length, of which 80% is plotted out, 20% is broken-down by page, and another 10% is drawn. This week, I managed to do about 15 pages of art and 5 pages of dialogue.