After months of college work, real-life drama, and large amounts of procrastination, I've finally gotten off my ass and started animating again! Here's a quick screen shot of a bit I've been working on for the Espionage Collab. Figured I'd give it a plug since it seems to be a pretty strong collab that requires talented artists, but unfortunately it's just not getting enough attention yet to fill up all of its open slots. If I remember right there's about four spots left for the taking. Give it a look if you have the time.

Edit: Wow, jpeg just kills the quality of the picture.

and I have much work to do.

After many months of college business and sheer waves of chronic laziness I'm finally animating again. Instead of working on a long, overwhelming project right away, I've decided to make a few practice animations first. Hopefully by the end of the summer I will have improved enough to work on much larger endeavors. Even though I'm still taking some summer classes, and I have assignments glaring over my neck, warranting my immediate attention, I can't help but think about animating again. Expect some more developments in the upcoming weeks.

Civilisation is hooped together, brought
Under a rule, under the semblance of peace
By manifold illusion; but man's life is thought,
And he, despite his terror, cannot cease
Ravening though century after century,
Ravening, raging, and uprooting that he may come
Into the desolation of reality:
Egypt and Greece good-bye, and good-bye, Rome!
Hermits upon Mount Meru or Everest,
Caverned in night under the drifted snow,
Or where that snow and winter's dreadful blast
Beat down upon their naked bodies, know
That day brings round the night, that before dawn
His glory and his monuments are gone.
-W. B. Yeats

Today is a special day. In a few Asian countries, White Day is celebrated as a continuation of St. Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day only the girls are supposed to give out chocolates to their boyfriends. On White Day the men return the favor with white candy. Tonight, I will take part in this holiday for the first time by giving my girlfriend, *****, a box of white themed candy. You can find more information on White Day here. I just thought I'd wish everyone else a Happy White Day for all, that is assuming you have someone to celebrate it with.

They're the Squishy Bearz and they're right over there.
They're the squishiest bears you know.
They've got squishy hairs 'cause they're Squishy Bearz.
Here come the swell Squishy Bearz!

In vision of the dark night
I have dream of joy departed--
But a waking dream of life and light
Hath left me broken-hearted.

Ah! what is not a dream by day
To him whose eyes are cast
On things around him with a ray
Turned back upon the past?

That holy dream-- that holy dream,
While all the world were chiding,
Hath cheered me as a lovely beam
A lonely spirit guiding.

What though that light, thro' storm and night,
So trembled from afar--
What could there be more purely bright
In Truth's day-star?

--Edgar Allen Poe

It's been quite a month. I have done a whole lot of things, mostly non-flash related, which includes going to four different countries, returning back to college for this semester, finishing my part in Squeaky's STWPT collab, and soon after spontaneously deciding to goto New Orleans for Marti Gras.

Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, and Mexico was amazing. Honduras and Belize was amazingly poor and pathetic, and Guatemala and Mexico had amazing beaches. I spent a large part of my cruise with my family, dining at fancy restaurants on the ship, going to art galleries, or just hanging out in our little port room. Our first stop was in Honduras. I didn't like Honduras; the country was very dirty and just seemed to be a perfect reflection of poor-ass ghetto towns in some rural parts in Mississippi, except a little worse.

In Guatemala, we spent the duration of our stop on the beach and a little bit in a small city just outside their main port. On the beach I met a number of girls from our cruise ship and had some drinks and later played some volleyball with them. Before we left Guatemala, the winds began to pick up and we returned to the ship before some rain broke out.

Belize was much like Honduras. Instead of spending much time in their crappy cites, we went on a trek through Belize's rainforest. In the forest we jumped in the river with some innertubes and floated down into a cave system. It was a very fun experience, the only problem was how cold the water was inside the cave. Once we returned to the ship, I ran into one of the girls that I had met in Guatemala. By the end of the night, we were in the jacuzzi together.

In Cozumel, Mexico we left the ship early to go snorkeling along their beach over one of their barrier reefs. We saw TONS of fish. There were so many fish, a humongous school of them passed beneath us and we could not see the floor of the reef due to their numbers. I'm talking tens of thousands of fish here. There were so many fish that I could even reach down and touch one before they could scramble away. After much snorkeling, we retreated to a beach in Cozumel where we enjoyed free alcohol and food and relaxed until the evening. That night on the ship, I met back up with the girl and we had another romantic episode, which became more and heated as the night progressed.

The next day the cruise began its return trip, and we spent the whole day at sea. I spent most of the day with the girl having an absolutely wonderful time. Once we returned to the States, I had to immediately pack up and return to Oxford since class began the next day. Two weeks passed and I found enough time to finish my part in Squeakytoad's Songstowearpantsto Collab.

In celebration I left my apartment to eat at my university's cafeteria and met up with a couple of friend I had met a week ago. One thing led to another and I found myself driving to New Orleans for the weekend for Marti Gras that very night. The six hour drive to New Orleans was long and tiresome, but well worth it. Marti Gras was at the very least, a kick ass experience. The most memorable parts in my time there was nearly getting into a fight with some jerkoff on Bourbon Street, seeing Hulk Hogan in person on one of the balconies, and kissing a very hot girl who was dancing the night away while she was completely naked in one of the clubs. Oh yes, it was a very wonderful time indeed.

A heads up on future plans: I have another animation in the planning stages. As of right now, don't expect anything from it for a good while. Also, after seeing LazyMuffin's success with his Nameless Game, I have been inspired to develop a flash game. I have already begun developing the game's engine. Unfortunately, no further details can be given out at this time.

Christmas was a blast! I had lots of fun with my family. Over the holidays I invited one of my friends from college over to have Christmas with my family. Yusuke, who is from Japan, had never experienced an American Christmas, so I invited him over to see what it was like. He met my family and saw where I grew up. He was very surprised because he grew up in Tokyo and seeing my parents rural lifestyle was quite different. The first thing he noticed is how wide and open the country is. "In Japan", he said, "there is no place simular to this."

After being shocked at how big my house was (the average American farm house is humongous compared to any Japanese home) he nearly freaked out when he saw our all guns. All firearms in Japan are banned; only police and officials are allowed to have a guns. On Christmas we had breakfast over at my older brother's house and opened presents. The most notiable thing I received was the gift from my parents: a Wacom Graphire 4! I'm still trying to get used to the thing. It's going to take a while for me to draw effectively with it.

After Christmas at my brother's house, we went back to my parent's property and my brother took Yusuke hunting. The day before, my brother and my nephew had killed a deer and Yusuke thought it was awesome, which is why they went hunting. Immediately afterwards, we drove to my father's private airport and let Yusuke fly around our property with my father and his friend. It didn't end there, right after he landed, we drove to my other older brother's house and shot his machine guns. Yusuke is actually a pretty good shot with the AK-47. By the end of the day, he said that this was the most fun he'd had all year and that he'd never forget it.

Next week I will be going on a cruise to Central America with my family. When I get back I'll try to get into practice with my new Wacom.

The surgery was a complete success! I can now see in 20/15 vision! Do you know what that means!? That means that I can read something from 20 away what an average person needs to be 15 away from to read. Odds are... I can see better than you. To make things even better, my vision will continue to improve over time. The doctors estimate that as my eyes continue to heal, I will be able to have 20/10 vision in about two weeks!

One thing is for sure. The surgery was as scary as hell. I actually watched myself go completely blind during the procedure. To describe it, its kind of like darkness begins to surround your vision at a steady rate until you can't see anything at all. The only thing you can see is what you were looking at before hand, kind of like an after image, which then eventually fade.

In my left eye, I have a good bit of redness in it. But the doctor says it will go away in a few weeks. Either way, I'm pretty damned happy about the results.