Monday, June 8, 2009

The Daily Blur, Suplimental

Project #5: Getting A+ Certified
This is one I keep meaning to do. I really need to take the tests at some point. That means studying the materials I have. I hope to get my certification by the end of the Summer.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Daily Blur

I can't believe that May is almost over. Here it is, 3 weeks into the Summer and I haven't even started on anything I was going to do. Well this week I'm changing all that. I'm making a conscious decision right now that I am going to get started on every one of my projects this week.

Project #1: Getting a License
This Summer I will be spending as much time as I can relearning how to drive. To start off, I need to get my permit which means passing the written driving test that I haven't taken in forever. Shouldn't be too bad though. I'm more worried about when I take the actual driving portion of the test. Fortunately, I should have plenty of opportunities to practice driving this Summer.

Project #2: Learning to Draw
So for a while now, I've had this idea for a webcomic. I even made two strips of the comic using pictures made in The Sims 2. Unfortunately, I learned that while getting a computer program to look the way you want is easy, getting it to do what you want is hard. I stopped trying to make comics, but the idea stayed with me.

Recently, I took a class in game design. After a few classes, we suddenly found ourselves without an artist. Unfortunately, none of the remaining class had what could be considered traditional artistic skills. Thankfully, we did have some free sprites we could manipulate into backgrounds and we used simple designs for the creeps and towers.

My Mother is an artist and I have started wonder if I am missing out on something that I in fact can do. These events have made me determined to learn how to draw. Of course, it's not like I could take a class to learn this. What I want to do isn't something that can really be taught. Instead, I intend to teach myself. I will discover my inner artist by starting my webcomic again. This time, it will be hand drawn. I just need to get my hands on some tracing paper and I will start drawing. (I will be penciling and Inking by hand but I'll be using photoshop for colors).

Project #3: Get Back on Track with Weight Watchers
So yeah. I haven't been to a Weight Watchers meeting since May 1st. I gained weight that week and I haven't been able to stick to the plan for more than a day at a time since then, I'm almost sure that I'm back over 200lbs. and I'm afraid that I won't be able to lose it again. I need to start exercising and I need to relearn how to control my cravings. Far too often I've had the desire to eat large amounts of unhealthily prepared meat and followed my urges. I keep sleeping in on scheduled meeting days thinking "I'll go to the next one". Well I need to go now. And I definitely need to start working out again.

Project #4: Games
After all the projects listed above, "playing games" doesn't seem like such a big deal. Well it is to me. I have a number of games that I likely won't have much chance to play once the school year starts back up.


Well, that's all I got for now. Later!
-Ben

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Grakus Version 2

Ok, we've done some work and I think we have a finished project. Check out Grakus on Kongregate! If you don't have an account, sign up for one, and please, please, please, rate it 5 stars!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Grakus

For the last semester, I've been in a class where we've been building a tower defense game. Check out this current release version at Kongregate.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

25 Random Things About Me

Ok, I got 2 people sending this thing to me on Facebook, so I figure I can't just ignore it. Here goes.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

  1. I feel most comfortable in front of a computer screen
  2. My Life's Goal is to design Video Games for a living
  3. Although I love to play Video Games myself, I'm actually not that good at most of them, with the exception of Puzzle Games and RPGs
  4. I'm 3/4 Irish and 1/4 German, and I don't drink
  5. I've been on a diet for a bit over a year, but After losing 50 pounds, I've found it nearly impossible to stay on it
  6. I've lost two family members due to smoking-related cancer, my Aunt and my Granddad
  7. I recently built a brand new computer for myself, and it costed much less than if I'd bought it pre-assembled
  8. People may sometimes see me as arrogant, but in truth, I'm just not much of a talker; I've gotten better though
  9. I have a bad habit of correcting people's pronunciation of words
  10. While I like my job, I actually enjoyed my job more before I became a Supervisor
  11. I still have my appendix, tonsils, and all 4 wisdom teeth
  12. I met my wife in 2nd grade, and from the 7th grade on, I never had any doubt who I was going to marry
  13. I dropped out of two schools before going to Ivy Tech, now I'm determined to get a degree from there before I move on
  14. I really wish I had the time and money to get back into collecting comics
  15. I cringe when I read something that's over-saturated with netspeak
  16. has always been my lucky number
  17. I'm not a very religious man, but I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, I believe that no one religion could be completely right, and I believe that no one religion is completely wrong; except for [withheld], that scares me.
  18. I've always wanted to go into space
  19. I prefer a mouse and keyboard to a gamepad
  20. I don't believe in the end of the world
  21. I have a tendency to feel other people's pain, which is why I could never be a doctor
  22. I like things as small as they can get, without sacrificing performance
  23. I tend to get along more with women than with men
  24. Earbuds don't stay in my ears
  25. My greatest fear is that I will one day loose my mind