The characters are multidimensional and seem to jump off the pages. I wanted to know what they were going to do next, and I cared about what would happen to each character in the story. I can’t wait for the fourth book!

For those of you who don’t know, this story is about an ordinary farm boy named Eragon who happens upon a dragon’s egg - which hatches for him. The boy and dragon share a telepathic link, and become very close friends. But they soon find themselves fighting for their lives and fleeing from the agents of the evil king Galbatorix.

I’m not going to post any spoilers, so go grab yourself a copy of Brisingr, and enjoy a mighty adventure!

I also heartily recommend the first two books, Eragon and Eldest.

Take care, and happy reading!

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Spring is my favorite season. Although spring officially started on March 21st, it didn’t actually start feeling like spring here until a week or so ago. Where is “here” you ask? Why, none other than the tri-state area on the east coast! When the spring weather finally hit, it felt so good! Finally the end to a long, cold winter.

After work this past Friday, I remembered that there are Cherry Blossom trees around the reservoir path in Central Park, and that the Cherry Blossom trees bloom in the spring. So I decided to take a nice walk halfway around the reservoir and enjoy the Cherry Blossoms. I took a few shots of the trees. The pictures came out much better than I thought they would, considering I used my mobile phone’s built-in camera to take them! Take a look below:

Cherry Blossom trees are quite beautiful in the spring, as you can see. I hope you all are enjoying the pleasant change of weather and the beauty of nature as much as I am.

Another thing I just remembered - with the nice spring weather comes tax time. Even though the deadline for filing taxes has passed, this bit of information will be invaluable for anyone who will be filing a non-resident state return. (If you work in a state that collects tax on income, and reside in another state, you will be filing in this manner) You will be filing two state returns, and you should prepare your resident state return LAST. That way, you will get the most money back. (Or in my case, owed less taxes! )

I learned this when preparing my taxes online this year - I prepared my resident state return first, and I was quite disgusted when the system showed how much I would owe. I then tried preparing my taxes with an alternate online tax service, and prepared my resident state last, (the service actually instructed me to do so!) and when I finished, the system showed me that I owed significantly less.

On a side note, (Yes, another one!) I can’t believe how easy it is to prepare my own taxes online! I used to use a popular but overpriced tax preparer (cough-har-cough-block-cough-cough…), but me and my wife got real tired of paying so much in preparation fees…

Well, that’s pretty much that. Take care all!

Oh, wait! Just to remind you all, I am NOT a tax expert! So make sure to do your own research into your state’s local tax laws and such! Okay.

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Besides the classes that were of average difficulty, there were several classes that I found to be very difficult. So, I dedicated more time and effort towards those classes. But that extra time and effort didn’t seem to make much of a difference - I still failed those classes. Repeatedly.

On the other hand, there were classes that I found to be very easy, almost effortless. I put very little time and effort into those classes, and I passed them with high grades. It never really made sense to me, why my hard work in tough classes went unrewarded, but then my seemingly effortless work was rewarded greatly in easy classes. I also noticed that other students passed difficult classes with ease, and failed classes which I thought were easy.

Eventually, all the classes I had were “tough classes”, and I quickly became overwhelmed. I got burned out and became demoralized. I was no longer able to put in the extra time and effort for these difficult classes, so I did the work half heartedly. The result was the same – I failed. I failed every class. I was in danger of being dismissed from the college.

In a last ditch effort to avoid being kicked out of school, I attempted to change my current major from TV/VCR Repair/Industrial Electronics/Telecom to HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning), which everyone, including teachers, said was easy. One dean told me that I would have to write a petition letter to another dean to get my major changed. Otherwise, I would definitely be dismissed from the school.

I wrote the letter and presented it to the appropriate dean. She had barely even read it before telling me her answer – a resounding NO. She remarked that I should have changed my major earlier. I got so enraged, that I ripped up the letter, threw the pieces on the floor, and stormed out. I was angry because I realized that all the hard work that I had put in, all the time I had put in – was for nothing. I had nothing to show for all of my hard work.

Now, after all that mess, let’s flash back to before I started college – to my final year in high school:

I was speaking with a counselor regarding what I would be doing after graduating. I remember telling the counselor that I didn’t want to start any post secondary education right away. I wanted to take some time off, and to figure out what I really wanted to do. He advised me that it was best to start right away, that it was not a good idea to take any time off. I pretty much felt rushed, because I had to make a rush decision to figure out what I wanted to do, which in itself is always a foolish thing to do. Haste makes waste, as they say. But I did what I was told, to my detriment.

I chose to study TV/VCR repair because it was the only thing I was interested in that I thought that I could get a job doing. I never thought that I could get work as a comic book artist because I drew too slowly to meet deadlines. Also, I never had any interest in telecom, but since the TV/VCR repair industry was dying, my college quickly changed the curriculum to telecom, which added even more difficult classes.

Another issue was the fact that mathematics is my Achilles heel. Since elementary school, math has always been my worst subject – much lower than any other subject I took. Reading, writing, English, social studies, history, art, and science were never a problem for me. All of my “tough” college classes involved mathematics. Not surprisingly, I was diagnosed with dyscalculia, or mathematics disorder in 2002. If I had known that I had dyscalculia in high school, I would have avoided any and all math based vocations, including TV/VCR repair/telecom.

I know that my high school counselor had my best interests in mind, so I do not fault him at all. I fault myself for blindly doing what I was told to do. I assumed that he knew best, but in the end, it was my responsibility to know what was best for me, not anyone else’s. I should have insisted on doing it my way, I would have been much better off.

Think about it: Why would anyone invest so much time, effort, and money into something that they are not even sure that they want to do? They wouldn’t. Not unless they were a fool.

I was a fool to do what I was told. Because of my foolishness, I wasted two years of my life pursuing an associate’s degree that was not suitable for me. But I learned a very important lesson – to never blindly do what you are told, no matter what. Figure things out for yourself, and then make your own decisions. Question everything and everyone, from rules and regulations, to laws, orders from parents and higher-ups, even authorities and governments.

I also learned that it is very important to figure out what you are talented at and what you enjoy doing, and pursue those avenues. Then and only then will any of your hard work pay off. Life is too short to waste doing unrewarding work.

The easiest people to control are those who do what they are told without question. Don’t be controlled by others. Control yourself, make your own decisions, and create your own destiny.

P.S. Hooray! Spring is here! It’s about time…

(lol)

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My wife has a mobile phone, and for some reason, her mother wanted to get a mobile phone at a discounted rate through my wife’s mobile phone plan. When my wife looked into it, she found that it would actually be a good deal for her mother, as it would only cost an additional $20 per month, and her mother would send the money each month. So my wife arranged the whole thing, and her mother was added to her mobile phone plan, which had to be upgraded to the family plan. She even had her mom on the phone picking out a specific mobile phone to go with the plan! My wife received the new phone, set it up, and mailed it to her mother, who began using it. My mother in law sent us the phone payments as agreed. This arrangement continued for a couple of months…

Seemingly out of nowhere, my mother in law obtained a new mobile phone and plan on her own with her local phone company. Me and my wife were quite surprised when we learned this. Apparently, she had lost the phone that my wife sent her, and couldn’t find it anywhere! Strangest of all was the fact that my mother in law didn’t tell my wife about losing the phone until a week after it happened! Well, my wife gave her mother a few more days to search for the phone before she reported it to the carrier as lost. It was never found. Fortunately, there was no unauthorized activity on the phone that we could ascertain via the carrier’s web site.

My wife called the carrier to remove her mother from her plan, since she no longer had any use for it. But she would have to pay a cancellation fee - $175. Well, you can see where this story is going. My mother in law sent us the money for the cancellation fee, and I decided to use the money to buy a new phone so I could use the plan. That’s pretty much how I joined the mobile phone club!

It actually took me about a week or so to come to a decision about taking advantage of this opportunity, but the desire to easily stay in touch with my friends influenced my decision. A mobile makes this sometimes difficult task very easy.

Hello?

(lol)

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My current job is only part time, and is not related in any way to my chosen field of Information Technology. (IT) I don’t really care for the work that I do, as it is mind numbingly boring. The only challenges are physical, so the only benefit of the job is a good workout.

When I first started this part time job about a year ago, I didn’t really want to. What I really wanted was to work harder on my web site, and also to find a decent, fairly paid job in IT that wouldn’t leave me exhausted after each day. (I have had several interviews last year, and two so far this year, but no offers yet.) But I took the job anyway, in spite of my reluctance, in the name of “responsibility”. The hourly rate was fair, (it was better than my previous IT jobs) and it felt good to bring home money that I had earned, as opposed to just sitting around collecting unemployment insurance.

I was hoping that my web site would “take off” and become a decent source of income, so I could quit the job. When I realized that my web site would not “take off” as quickly as I had hoped, I stepped up my IT job search, being more aggressive in applying to specific companies with good reputations. That too, is taking longer than I had hoped!

As time passed, I grew more and more annoyed with the job. I dreaded going in to work each night. When I was at work, I wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere but there. I became more apathetic towards my work. Eventually my annoyance and apathy slowly turned into a bitter hatred of the job! I still tried to do my best, but because of my feelings toward the job, the quality of my work suffered. My work quality will never be the same as when I first started. My heart was just not in it. I tried to use my free time at work to study and work on my personal projects. It did help me feel better for a bit, but it didn’t last. My disdain for my job was poisoning my work, and everything else as well.

I have only myself to blame. Against my better judgment, I took a job I didn’t really want, a job that, in spite of providing income, would slow down the pursuit of my goals - my dreams. I believe that I would have been better off if I didn’t take this job. However, that fact remains to be seen.

I am still looking for suitable IT work, and still working on my website. I am also learning more and more - which is perhaps the moral of this story: In spite of making bad choices in the past, press on and learn from your mistakes in order to build a better future!

In closing, I leave you with this tidbit of wisdom, a hard lesson taught to me by bitter experience:

“Always think for yourself, and make your own decisions. Never blindly do the bidding of others, nor foolishly follow the advice of the ignorant, but wisely consider the advice of many sages. After you have weighed all of your options, make your own choice independently, free from the interference of others. For free will is man’s greatest gift, and many woes to those who would dare to rob a man of his free will.”

That wasn’t too dramatic, was it? Oh well.

Take care! Until the next blog entry…

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LOL. (This acronym means Laughing Out Loud, which pretty much means that I am, well, laughing. Out loud!)

I didn’t even realize that it was a leap year, let alone February 29th. I only noticed when I saw some weird frog replacing the “L” in “Google” on Google’s home page. When I hovered my mouse over the frog, it said “Leap Year”. Thanks for helping me keep up to speed Google!

I haven’t written a blog post since what, November? Ugh. I will have to work harder to get out more blog posts. Well, I did manage to release Part 2 of my science fiction story, 3500AD. I spent all my free time at work one night typing it up, and the next couple of days editing it. It was over twice as long as the first chapter, and I’m quite proud of my accomplishment.

To be honest, my entire 3500AD story is an experiment. 3500AD is based on a comic I started in junior high school about an alien invasion of Earth. How original of a plot is that? (sarcasm) It was called “Fate of the Earth”, and is about three scientists who work together to create a new type of starship propulsion - just like in 3500AD. The three scientists are supposed to be myself and two of my best friends from junior high school, Adrian and Robert. In the original comic, the names were unchanged. Unfortunately, I never finished the comic. I only completed about 1.5 pages. Later, I’ll scan it and post it in the Art Gallery section.

In 3500AD, I changed the names of the main characters, but they are still loosely based on myself and my friends. I am following the “invaded by aliens” plot, but I am creating everything as I go along. I truly have no idea at this point how all of the events will unfold, and that is what makes 3500AD so much fun! It’s not meant to be a serious piece of literature in any way. I think that it will be at least five or six parts in total, but it could end up being much longer. When I complete 3500AD, I plan to go back and edit all of the chapters again and re-release it as a complete story. Who knows, maybe it will end up published in print!

Take care all, and I hope you enjoy my work. I certainly enjoy it!

…and enjoy the rest of Leap Year Day!!!

(lol!)

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So alive!!! (Blatant P.O.D. ripoff, lol)

It’s funny – I’ve been gearing up to finally put my Titanium Knights comic project into motion, actually completed a few pages (digitally), and then the gears ground to a halt. At first it was a creative block, which I fixed, and actually wrote a blog entry about. (Read here.) Since then, I have resumed sketching designs and page layouts, writing notes about the story, characters, enemy unit and fortress details, etc.

My plan for the Titanium Knights web comic is for it to be hand drawn, scanned, and digitally colored – with the exception of a few all-digital scenes – like outer space and nature scenery. I dug up the remnants of my old art supplies, and was quite disappointed with what I found. My drawing paper had yellowed, and my favorite (only!) mechanical pencil was missing. Oh well. That’s what happens when you don’t draw seriously for 6 or so years. So, what to do next…

I borrowed my wife’s drawing supplies in the meantime, to give myself an art jumpstart!

I was also encouraged by the gift of a sketchbook by a friend of mine (and fellow artist!).

I used what I had to start officially drawing again. (Read here.) It was cool, and I made more progress in the planning stages, but still no new pages released. Then it hit me: I need to get some new art supplies appropriate for comic authoring – for my comic authoring. So, one morning after work, I went to Pearl Paint’s Canal Street location (Check them out here.) to pick up some bristol pads, mechanical pencils, and lead refills. When I got home, I tried out the new pencils – I felt so excited and energized! It was like in the second Lord of the Rings movie, after Gandalf broke Saruman’s spell on Theodin, and Aragorn gave Theodin his sword, and all of his old strength returned to him! Dramatic, yes, but it is the best comparison I can imagine.

In my excitement, I drew a woman in the foreground of a previous sketch:

This is a preliminary design sketch of one of the Stalfarian fortresses. I used my wife’s art pencil for it. After I obtained the mechanical pencils, I sketched the woman in the foreground. To all of you Naruto fans out there: Yes, I copied her hairstyle from Hinata. I just happen to like her hairstyle! (I am a Naruto fan as well!) I didn’t plan for it to come out as well as it did because I was just messing around, but I surprised myself.

I was also very fortunate to receive an old Wacom ArtPad II drawing tablet for free. It was fun to use, but its age (wear and tear) made it unsuitable for serious artwork. However, that tablet helped me to realize how useful such tablets are, and would be an absolute necessity if I am going to seriously color my comics digitally. I grabbed a new Wacom Intuos2 from EBay for a great price. The difference between the Intuos2 and the ArtPad II was like night and day! The feel is so smooth – it’s amazing.

Something else I recently did to help me with my productivity is to rearrange my home office. It was such a great change, and it has greatly helped me with being organized. I have so much more space to work with, and I was even able set up my old G3 iMac as an extra workstation/music player! (iMacs have great sound.) I now have a neat, organized workspace – something every creative individual needs!

Wow. So much has happened in such a short time. I just wanted to share what’s going on to anyone who would be interested. Titanium Knights forever!!! Hoooooooo!!

(lol!)

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Well, as you can see, we are back up. I am still restoring the content, slowly but surely. It will take some time, but progress is unstoppable. We’ve (obviously) had some technical difficulties, so I took the site down until the issues were resolved. Everything seems fine now. I’ll keep you all posted…

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I am a very creative individual by nature. When I was a child, I had all sorts of crazy, but creative ideas. I drew pictures, made toys out of paper, acted out several character roles of my own creation - and recorded it to audio tape. I was like a little radio producer! I eventually got my friends into my productions as well. I remember getting a friend to do a musical beat with his mouth while I sang a crazy but funny song. As I got older, I continued my “productions” with video game footage recorded to VHS tape, complete with intro screens with mixed in music! Being quite poor all the while, it took quite a bit of creativity just to accomplish my projects without proper, *expensive* production equipment. One of my greatest achievements was getting my voice on a VHS tape intro after many unsuccessful attempts including plugging a cheap microphone into the audio input of the VHS deck, I ended up recording my voice on an audio tape, then plugged the audio tape player to the VHS deck’s audio input, and viola! I remember playing back the tape for a friend and I’ll always remember his reaction when he heard my voice: “How’d you get your voice on tape?!?” It was such a great feeling.

One of my common mistakes in producing the video game footage tapes was making them too long. My friends never finished watching any of my tapes, as they were regularly six hours long each, and I had many sequels. Super Video, Super Video 2, Amazing Visions, Super Amazing Visions, etc. My gaming tapes were more like gaming documentaries. I eventually learned that to keep an audience, you need to keep them wanting more. Never give an audience too much of what they want, or they will bore quickly. I actually tried that technique on a game music audio tape I made for myself, and boy did it work! As I heard my favorite tunes fade out after only 3-4 minutes, instead of 6-10 minutes, I wanted to hear them again! But that would have to wait until the tape finished playing and started over.

With all the creative ideas I’ve had, one might think that being creative comes easy to me.

Not always.

Sometimes, like with my current projects, I run into what I call a “creative block”. Think of it as writers block for any creative undertaking other than writing. This creative block has slowed down my current projects quite a bit. (Thank goodness I’m not on a deadline!) It actually started not too long after I started my main website (link). I started working on the first pages of my comic, Titanium Knights Episode 3, when I discovered that even though I already had the story and main plot events, I didn’t have much else, like character development, conversations, detailed enemy equipment (other than just some soldiers). I thought to myself, “I need more material!” So I decided to do some fun research…

I read other creators’ webcomics. I checked out other artists’ work. I watched a crapload of anime. I read art and comic tutorials. I played fantasy role-playing games. I looked at my old drawings and comics. Rinse, repeat! I also had a blast doing it. Yes, it delayed work on my actual comic, but I want my comic to be great. Not just another web comic, but an epic online graphic novel that will eventually be printed. I have big plans for this comic, and I want it to be the best it can possibly be. Enjoying other people’s creative work, even my old work, inspires me, gives me new ideas, and sets creative examples. Even listening to music while I work gets the creative juices flowing!

So, next time you find yourself in some kind of creative block, take a break, and enjoy the creative works of others. Then try resuming your own work. Remember…

Creativity begets creativity.

Until next time!

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Okay, okay, there weren’t actually any “killer” bathroom tiles, but now that I have your attention…

I was in the shower last week (and no, that was not the last time I showered, smart alec! ) when I noticed that the tiled wall seemed to give a bit when I leaned on it. I thought nothing of it at the time. But the next time I was in the shower, and I leaned on the wall, one tile jumped off the wall in a suicide bid, while the others sunk in and tried to bite my shiny metal… wait, I don’t have a shiny metal backside do I? Okay, I am exaggerating a bit. But the tiles did sink into the wall.

So, I am left with one tile in the tub, and some more tiles trying to escape to safety inside the wall. It turns out that the drywall the tiles were mounted on got soaked over time and was quite soft, and my leaning on the wall was just too much for that poor drywall. (To any drywallers reading: Am I master of the obvious or what?) How did the water get in, you ask? Well, somehow, the grout became cracked between several tiles, and the water got in through the cracks. Hmmm… I think that those tiles have been planning their escape for some time now…

Well, now the warden, er, landlord is now involved. A riot sqad, um, no, a repairperson will be here in about a week. In the meantime, I need to “contain” the problem to reduce water leakage into the wall. A nice large clear trash bag will do nicely. Since I have been having my shiny metal- er, (crud!) I mean my backside kicked by working the night shift, my wife performed the containment procedure.

Now that those suckers (tiles) are safely contained, I think I can take an uneventful shower again, right? Wrong! I ended up forgetting about the tiles and leaned on the soft wall again. Another tile jumped again, only to become trapped in the plastic containment device (trash bag). This time, yet another tile jumped - inside the wall! Those pesky tiles…

I decided to totally ignore the tiles from now on. Since then, there have been no activity from them. I am sitting here typing this blog entry, while half of my brain is sleeping, waiting for the riot squad to finish handling the tile problem. I can not wait to get some sleep, since I have to work again tonight. Actually, I think that my brain is fully asleep, after reading this post again…

…And I’m just in zombie mode right now. Well, got to hang in there for a little longer…

Take care…

zzZ…

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