Well, I hope at this point you've checked out this big thing I've got. No, not that. This. My first fanart! And trying to explain just how much I like it would be a wasted effort. Euphoric might be a good word to start with, though.

With that said, I'm now going to get into a couple nit-picky details about the pick, to give you all a better idea of the characters and my thoughts about them. Just in case you're doing fanart of your own, and want to remain close to my own "vision". Not that I'm not up for your own interpretations or ideas.

One thing is the fingers. I don't know how well it comes across in the comic (since my art is, well, crap), but I've tried to give him claw-like fingers. Just a little something to further distinguish him. And I'll be referring to "him", since I haven't really come up with a good name for what's going on there - "Tim bonded with Sym" is the idea, but a bit of a mouthful. Another point - I've tried to draw him a little more buff. The idea, again, is that his strenth is increased. Here it looks like I've lost 150 pounds. But that's 10er's style...I'm certainly not going to fault him for it. ("In fact, that's why we love you." - Dr. Zoidberg) And the color. 10er actually contacted me to ask about his color before sending it to me. And I actually had to think about it, since I didn't give too much thought to it before. Sure, it's easy to keep him gray, especially sine you get used to him in that color, due to the fact that I'm too lazy to color my comic. But the shade that he is there, I think looks good. Plus, he can always change ;-)

And now the big point I wanted to make. Again, I'm not criticizing the pic - these are just my thoughts, for future reference. Sym wouldn't pop out on his own when he and Tim are in that fully-bonded stage. Sure, he pops out all the time when he's "going for a ride", so to speak, but my idea was that the mouth (and to a lesser extent, the eyes) of the full-bond were from Sym himself. So you wouldn't have the two mouths going on like that.

I just want to reiterate again just how much I really, really like this pic. (Oh, I'm sorry, anyone else - please don't be discouraged!)

It's late as I write this, so I'm sorry if my thoughts seem half-finished. I might edit this entry if I think I can improve on it, we'll see.
posted by Tim at 12:29 AM

Bear with me folks, I'm trying to fiddle around with the template to this blog to try and incorporate in with the comic. Cross your fingers for my success.

Well, I think I did it. I don't know, maybe I'll tool around with it some more. I just hope there won't be any thorny legal issues with what I'm doing. Probably not, but I'm apologizing ahead of time now.

Oh, did I mention BIG a-doin's a-transpirin' tomorrow the 26th? Be here! I'm so psyched.
posted by Tim at 1:59 AM

So you might possibly be wondering why within the last couple of entries that I treated swearing like some kind of big deal. Well, in a way, I do. I feel that the purpose of "colorful language" is basically shock value. That value is greatly diminished when every other word out of someone's mouth is "fuck". It paints that person as some kind of vulgar moron with an extremely limited vocabulary. An example: Occasionally at work (actually, now that I think about it, more like at least once a day for me) the molds on the presses need to be "treated"; that is, sprayed with some kind of chemical so the rubber won't stick. And the other day, as it happens often enough, the little bucket of the sprayer ran out, while I was in the middle of spraying a press. So I had to wait as more was being brought to me (the backup wasn't there, and I don't know where to get more), and during that time, the molder returns after the every-half-hour smoke. I explain that I was almost finished, but not quite since the sprayer was "out of fluid." His response? "So you ran out of the shit?"

My point: unnecessary vulgarity. I know the response was a little redundant, but remember, I'm working in a noisy place where hearing protection is required. And I have a hard enough time hearing people sometimes. I know I'm guilty of not enunciating too. And I have this (possibly annoying) habit of trying to re-explain everything said to me, in an effort to not only understand it myself, but also make sure I'm on the same page as the other person. A lot of times it ends up as a lot of double-talk, like "That's what I just said." So the problem is worse for me with earplugs and industrial fans and such. But I digress.

It's not that I'm opposed to using swears, and it's not like I don't use them myself. I just feel that it's better to use them when you really need to, as opposed to all the time and you get desensitized to it. Then you'd have to come up with all new swears. Which might not be such a bad idea, since kids are learning swears younger and younger (I happened to learn "shit" myself when I was 7, in a nice embarassing little story). Or at least, they're being exposed to more adult things. I didn't really notice it until I was watching TV with a kid in the room...there's a lot of stuff I might find objectionable if I were a parent. But I'm not...I like being able to be an adult without having to constantly worry about da children (you have to say it like Chef).

And now for something completely different...

I caught a little bit of Star Trek the other night (TNG...and I'm using the abbreviation like I'm cool). And I thought about it, and I noticed: every scheduled action takes place at the top of the hour. I never heard Picard call a meeting for 0830 hours. Most of these tasks are also scheduled in the morning...I never heard 1900 hours either. And is that strict 24 hour time, or military time? (1650 hours being 4:30pm, or 4:50?) Yeah, I'm reading into it too much, but you KNOW there are other people who analyze other things WAY too much. Plus, I'm pretty sure they operate on a 25 hour clock. Yeesh, all that, plus all that travel at relativistic speeds, that must really screw you up. Warp lag? Must be pretty bad if you constantly end up with that "twin paradox" thing.
posted by Tim at 12:14 AM

Are you as infuriated with the new generation of pop-up advertisements as I am?

It all started innocently enough (ha) with your basic, ordinary, run-of-the-mill pop-up ad. No biggie. Just close and you're on your way. Unless you happen to hit one of those where the pop-ups spawn more pop-ups, and it goes in this loop. Sometimes you had to Alt-F4 it instead, or find the tiny "really really close the window" link. Then came the pop-unders. Sneaky little devils vanished before you could get rid of 'em. And that's not even including all the junk e-mail. Now we've got these stupid, damn fucking "system message" pop-ups.

Yeah, that's right. I hate these so much, they earn the swear-word modifier. I FUCKING HATE these things.

You must've received these as well, right? I get at least a dozen a night. Not your ordinary browser window variety, these somehow make it look like an important system message. They show up on the task bar with the little "application" icon. They inform me that my IP address is being broadcast all over the Internet and I should go to their website to download something to fix it. Or they're accusing me of being fat, or needing a bigger penis or larger breasts. Sure, it's easy enough just to click "OK" and forget about it. But when you get one every minute or so, it's really annoying. At least I can avoid the webpages with the pop-ups, or be prepared for them. These you aren't safe from. And I'm afraid to do anything about it. I'm afraid I'll go to the website and end up making it worse, like unsubscribing from spam lists and end up getting signed up on ten more. Perhaps I'd invest in some kind of ad-ware/spyware/anti-spam thing, but I don't know how effective it'd be on these things. I have enough trouble with Norton, since it pops up whenever I try to do anything Internet related. Heck, it popped up when I was playing Black & White, even without the Internet, so this thing is making me needlessly paranoid.

It's a never-ending game of cat and mouse, with the spammers and the blockades set up to stop spam. I almost wish things would just hurry up and get to the point like in Minority Report - just constant, instant personalized advertisements everywhere. Just get it over with and analyze my body and habits and have at it. At the very least, I might be partially interested in the ads, as opposed to these vague blanket spam ads that assume I'm impotent or on the verge of financial ruin. Plus, the technology would be cool. Though couldn't you get away with avoiding the retinal scans by not looking at the scanner? Or just closing your eyes? Seems like that one point in the movie and everyone's getting scanned as they walk through the corridor, that they all happen to look up and *flash*. Don't they know everyone just stares at the ground as they move like that?

I'll mention again, it claims my IP address is being broadcast all over the Internet. Now, last time I checked, isn't that how the Internet is DESIGNED TO WORK? I took a course in computer networks in college, and while my grade can't confirm an "expert" status, I've still got the book sitting behind me right now on the shelf. I'm pretty sure I can look up the fact that most, if not all, the transfer protocols (you know, HTTP, FTP, SMTP...you've seen these before) include the IP address. So to that claim, I say: "DUH!"

And I have to try very hard not to let myself become roped into believing the rest of the ads. It'll wear you down if you receive a thousand messages a day telling you you can increase your penis size. Do they know something I don't? Sure, it's scare tactics; that's my point. I'm actually quite comfortable with my size, and I haven't received a complaint yet...in fact, nothing but praise for my, uh, "l33t bedr00m sk1llz". I know that's probably WAY too much information for you; I'm just tooting my own horn, if you will. If you doubt me, perhaps some kind of arrangement can be made...e-mail me. ;-) Men need not apply.

I apologize, that was kind of shameless. Can't blame a guy for trying though, right?

In other news:

I caught a bit of a sneak peek of The Matrix Reloaded on ET. Jaw on the floor, chills down the spine. I don't need to rave about it...this is one of those movies that everyone will go see, and everyone will love. Any more praise feels kind of redundant. I also noticed X2 is showing up on the "upcoming movie releases" lists. That threw me a little bit when I first saw that. I thought, "Hey, X2 is supposed to open the first weekend of May." Then I thought, "Duh, the first weekend of May is only a few weeks from now." I've been so out of the loop.

Also, I read recently that actress Jennifer Garner is splitting up with her husband, Whatshisname. (Btw, do you always have to preface an actor's name with the title "actor" like that?) So, woo-hoo! she's on the market! If Ms. Garner is interested, I'd like to throw my hat into the ring in what is sure to be a huge free-for-all for her affection. She can feel free to contact me at the e-mail address mentioned above.

And finally, in a nice little bit of irony, just before I post this message, I received one of those hated pop-ups, at 1:45 am EDT.
posted by Tim at 1:51 AM

The Smoking Rant

Here's one of those topics that I've kinda wanted to write about since I started this blog dealie.

Let me start off by saying that this isn't directed towards any particular person. I realize I may be making some broad generalizations, that's just it; they're generalizations. I know that some points I make may not apply to you if you smoke (and we're just talking tobacco here, folks...other substances are for another day), but there are almost always exceptions to the rules, and stereotypes don't apply to every person. But, remember, there are stereotypes for a reason.

The basic point is this: I hate smoking. Again, I don't hate certain individuals who choose to smoke - that's their choice and I'm not going to harp on them for that. They've got plenty of other people to do that already. More specifically, I hate the attitude most smokers exhibit. This kind of cocky, arrogant, "oh we're so damn cool" kind of attitude. Just watch a group of people lounging around smoking. Puffing their cigarettes, trying to act way, way too cool for someone who's breathing noxious fumes. I wouldn't want to be standing next to someone who exhales sulfuric acid vapor, would you? Heck, for all we know they are.

And let me tell you, there's nothing sexier than a cute young girl, standing outside in the freezing weather, shivering her ass off (girls have a hard enough time controlling their body temperatures without intentionally standing outside without a coat on), puffing on a butt. And you know (even I had a chance) it would be a real treat to wake up with her hocking up a nice chunk of lung first thing in the morning. "Uh, no jelly on my toast, thank you."

This attitude plays into what has got to be one of my Top Three Biggest Pet Peeves Ever: something I call "butt-flicking", for lack of a better term. Ever since humans first spun wet clay around into round shapes, there have been ashtrays. C'mon, admit it: your first pottery project ever always turned out to be an ashtray. Hell, even I've done it, and nobody in my family smokes. (But, I did stick a little smiley-face head in the center of mine so it wasn't "officially" an ashtray.) So why some smokers can't figure out this extremely simple device is beyond me. It's not like we're trying to hide them - they're usually all over the damn place wherever smoking is tolerated. Some quick-thinkers even use old cups or beer bottles or cans or whatever else is on hand.

There are two situations where this really ticks me off: on the balconies of the dorms in which I used to live in at college, and while driving a car. First, I'll get the environmental issues out of the way. Ok, you're casually tossing away what is essentially a tiny little fire. It's a damn good thing you're not doing this during a drought or other dry conditions, you could set a whole forest ablaze, potentially. (So maybe that's how those forest fires start every year in the Los Angeles area. Hey, it's more likely than lightning, I bet.) Even if you are lucky enough not to be the cause of a case of arson, you're still leaving this tiny little cotton filter, or whatever the heck it is. You people know how damn fast those things can pile up. I swear to [insert your diety of choice here], the area under those aforementioned balconies were more butts than grass. I would absolutely love to see a driver get one of those $500 fines for littering for just one of those tiny things.

Ok, another issue. Say I happen to be walking underneath the balconies. Maybe I'm heading back to my room after a hard day of classes, or a just-tolerable-enough meal from the dining commons. I'm walking along, la-dee-dah-dee-dah, when all of a sudden, I'm BOMBARDED BY STINKY HELLFIRE FROM ABOVE! I am surprised I haven't hear reports of people being burned, blinded, set on fire, or otherwise seriously injured from the assholes (gasp!) who are too cool to properly snuff out the cigarette when they're finished, let alone dispose of it properly. Oh, and about putting them out: I'm sorry you're too weak, or weak-minded (or weak-lunged, most likely...no, wait, weak-minded is the way I want to go), to be able to bend over a little bit and make a slight twisting action with your wrist. Sure, you can drop the butt and scrunch it with your foot, I acknowledge your lack of manners and motor skills! And thanks so much for just leaving your little present there, maybe it'll even leave a burn mark as a remind of your thoughtfulness!
I'm sorry, I try not to be so overly sarcastic. See how mad this makes me?

Back to the drivers. I always flip off drivers whenever I notice the little orange particle system (Me am computer guy!!!11) appear by their tires. Last time I checked, weren't ashtrays a standard feature in every car model? I know cigarette lighters aren't around as much as they used to be, but I don't think I've EVER seen a vehicle without an ashtray lurking somewhere. Is it really that much of an inconvenience to keep the butt in your car? Sure, you might be up to your knees in soot after a trip, but vacuum cleaners aren't that hard to figure out.

There is one thing, though, that almost makes me want to smoke. (That's a very tiny almost, mind you.) There is a sense of comraderie amonst smokers that I wish I could have better access to. There are two break rooms where I work (again with the workplace? I do happen to spend a lot of my day there, so sorry), one smoking, one non. There are very few times when the smoking room isn't practically overflowing with people, smoking and talking it up. The other day I was a little bit thrown by a question from a co-worker during my lunch (in the non-smoking room, naturally). He asked me if I had ever smoked, or have quit. This question actually puzzled me. I have been used to not-smoking for so long, I was thrown, almost offended, by someone just asking, almost assuming that I once had. Turns out he was wondering if I was a honest-to-goodness non-smoker, or just enjoying the peace and quiet of the non-smoking room.

Yeah, I know this smoking "bond" probably stems from when kids start (and let's face it, I don't know of anyone who starts smoking late in life, do you?) and there's this rebellious quality that everyone shares. So it's a bit of shame I can't get instant friends like that (there I go with that lonliness thing again :P). On the other hand, these are grizzled, foul-mouthed, blue-collar working class types that frequent this break room, so I guess I can stand not being "invited" to the party. Sure I can go in if I really want...I did the first couple days I worked there, and got the "So, do you smoke?" question. "Second-hand. Does that count?" But I'd be wasting valuable smoking space.

So I'm sorry if you were offended by this if this doesn't apply to you. But, idiots like these - any kind, actually - are not exempt from ridicule. Maybe after we wrap up this War on Terror (remember that's how it started?), we can declare a War on Idiots. That'd be nice, huh? Except it'll probably turn out like the War on Drugs (and likely this War on Terror too), where we do stuff about it for a while, and everyone seems pleased, then it goes back to the way it was before. But I guess that's another rant for another day. Thanks.

posted by Tim at 2:30 AM

I think Friday's becoming my least favorite day of the week.

Yeah, you heard me. Friday, the day everyone loves so much they made an expression out of it...and named a restaurant chain after that. Sure, this coincidentally has to do with work-related reasons, but they're still valid. Here are the three reasons to support this preposterous claim, listed in order of ascending importance:

(1.) I work second shift at a factory (for now). As such I leave for work at about 12:30pm. During the week this isn't so bad...I acutally make pretty good time, as the commute is pretty quick and easy-going. But Fridays afternoons, everyone, it seems, has left early or whatever, and there's more traffic than usual. I'll admit, it really doesn't make too much difference in my commute...it just takes a little more cautious driving. Sure, this is a weak point, but I consider it a point nonetheless. I told you, ascending importance.

(2.) The factory where I work produces rubber products...mostly soles for boots. At the end of shift on Friday some of the molds on the presses are taken out to be cleaned over the weekend. Basically this means I have more work to do at the end of Friday. As previously mentioned, the end of the Friday shift is the least likely time of the week for any work to get done anywhere else, as people are either lazy or have already left. Not for me, though. More lifting of heavy, hot metal! W00t! Reading this so far, I've got little to complain about. But this is a matter of relative unhappiness.

(3.) The most important reason of all. What do people usually do Fridays after work? No really, I'm asking, I'd really like to know, lol. Friday nights are for people to go out with their friends and party. But what am I doing? Driving home at an hour where everyone's already at their destination having fun, just going back home to do my usual thing, with no one to hang out with and relax on the day everyone relaxes on.

And there it is! The first instance of "my life sucks" to appear in this blog! I don't really want this blog to be like virtually every other blog out there and just be one person's ranting about their miserable life. I promise, I'll keep it to a minimum.
posted by Tim at 12:21 AM

So I've been listening to the radio a lot lately. I've got a 45 minute commute to work each day, so may as well, huh? Searching the dial, I've come up that the stations I listen to the most are the hard/alternative rock stations, and a couple of "today's mix/variety" thrown in for good measure. And I've discovered I'm really starting to like bands like Linkin Park and Godsmack...along those lines. I never really got into that kinda music when I was younger and more impressionable. Hell, my parents were the masters of the radio on the family road trips, so I ended up growing up on oldies. So these are bands I never thought I'd like, and I actually end up liking them. Though, for now, I'm still in the mindset of only liking one or two songs from each band (the ones that are on the top of the rotation, usually). So most of my commute is scanning the dial in search of these few songs to listen to. For the most part it works; I can find a few of the songs I like. Though, if I had to prioritize, these are songs that would closer to the middle/bottom rather than top. For example, I'm running the risk of burning out on "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age, even though it ranks on my list. Top of my list is "Bring Me to Life", by Evanescence...it's hard for me to imagine EVER getting tired of that song :)

Another song I like, though it deviates a little from the rest is "All Those Things She Said", by t.a.T.u. (I think that's how it's officially spelled, I dunno). Yeah, it borders on techno...I'll get to that in a minute. My point here is, when I first heard the song, I liked it. (I still do, don't get me wrong, just bear with me here). So, trying to figure out the name of the song, I come up on one of their unofficial websites, www.tatu.us. I'm only looking for the name of the song, so I only see pretty much the main page. On it are pics of the two girls, and a pic (drawing?) of them manga-style. In bed. In their underwear. This, of course, piqued my curiosity, and my imagination. But I was content just with that and continued to enjoy the song. Then I decide to learn more about them, and delve a little deeper into this website. I learn they're both Russian, and like 15 years old. And there seems to be some kind of controversy about them exploring homosexuality with each other. Heck, that's what the song is pretty much about. Their biographies on this page read like some kind of contract signing..."I, , being of sound mind and sound body...", etc. I'm not sure whether that's due to fractured English, or just poor translation, or what. In any event, all this information put a bit creepy spin on the whole thing. Am I a bad person for liking a techno-style song sung by 15-year-old Russian lesbians? (The correct answer is: No, Tim, it's all in your head. Shut up and enjoy the song.) To clarify: my problem with this is not the lesbianism...it's that they're *15-years-old* and exploring lesbianism. I think I wrote more on this subject than I probably should have.

So you might be saying to yourself, "Eeww! He likes techno?" Well, short answer: yes. BUT, only a little. More accurately, I like the techno sound, but it's not anything I listen to regularly or dance to. (As if I could dance.) To answer one of those oft-asked questions ("What kind of music do you like?"): I like what I call "powerful" music. Music from almost any genre that gets into your heart through the bass line, grabs you by the reproductive organs (so girls know what I'm talking about too) and forces you to bang some part of your body...head, pelvis, what have you. Chords and harmonies then can either bring you to tears, or to some kind of epiphany-like re-awakening. By that I mean your jaw hits the floor and you kinda tilt your head and say, "ooo..." - think monster pipe organ chord. Music that makes you feel good. Sure, slow songs are OK once in a while, but they get boring quick. Plus there's too many weepy songs about lost love and depression and stuff...I've got enough of that as it is, I need music to pick up my spirits. Like Barenaked Ladies or They Might Be Giants; silly songs that make give you a laugh. Repetitiveness gets boring too, which is why I generally don't like hip-hop, R&B, rap, country, reggae...there might be some more there. Exceptions: I like Shania Twain...she puts a little more pop into her music, plus she's smoking HOT...put Shakira into that category as well, though her voice is a *little* too all-over-the-place (wait, put them together...ahhhh...oh, where was I?)...I kinda like Eminem's "Lose Yourself", but again, that's another high burnout risk factor, plus I don't like Eminem on principle...that goes for boy bands too. See? Boy bands: interesting harmonics/sounds, but if I ever admit to myself that I like the band, I'd have to beat myself up severely. And did you notice too that all of Eminem's songs are about himself?

So I can't call myself a music lover by the standards of the "music industry". But I do love music, since I had been in concert band all through elementary and high schools, plus I was in the UMass Minuteman Marching Band in college. Yes, I am a band geek. With that kind of background, I've noticed I tend to like music more for the music, and not necessarily the lyrics or message it tries to convey. So classical music ranks fairly high on my list of favorite muscial genres.

To wrap up, the short answer to "What kind of music do you like?": Most everything...I don't have any particular favorite. (with exceptions)

posted by Tim at 2:22 AM