WingedSerpent's thoughts, musings, and other Blog like Behaviors

[WingedSerpent]

I went to the zoo this past weekend.  Its one of my favorite spots to go around town.  I took my sketchbook, but only made about a page of some small quick drawings.  I ended up going a little bit later then I normally would.

But that's one of the things I liked.  That I could go a bit later.  Obviously, since the start of the pandemic, going to certain places has been more difficult if not impossible.  The Natural History Museum, the Art Museum, the Cleveland Aquarium all still have a lot of Covid Protocols in place. Especially now  that we are dealing with the Delta Variant.  You need to get your tickets ahead of time, paths are laid out for visitors. You need to arrive at certain times, and you may only be allowed to stay for a certain time.   The zoo is mostly back to operating as normal.  Just to be safe, I did still wear a mask.

That's the one thing this pandemic really messed up.  For a while you couldn't make any plans because you weren't sure if anything was going to be open and everything was delayed.  Then You NEEDED a plan because you had to follow the rules to get in and out of places.


I miss being allowed to be a bit more flexible with my schedule.  To have a plan and change it if necessary.


I was able to go to one small comic book convention a few weeks ago, and might be going to Origins game fair in September.  So somethings are returning.

[WingedSerpent]

I've never had an actual bucket list.  I've thought about somethings I really want to do before I die, but never sat down and wrought one out.  I think I want to try doing that soon.

As I think about the big items, I noticed a lot have a common theme:  travel.  

I've done a fair amount of travel.  But 99%  of it has been confided to the U.S.A.  I've mentioned this before, but for context I live in the Cleveland, Ohio area.  The other states I've been to the most are Indiana and Illinois.  Usually for conventions like G-Fest and GenCon Indy.  I've been to South Carolina a few times, because my sister used to live there.  A few years ago I visited my oldest brother and his family in Houston, Texas.  And a few day trips to Pittsburgh, PA.

Mt family visited Florida, but I was pretty young at the time.  And I've spent a few days in Tennessee.   There are other states I've technically been to, but its because we were driving through them and didn't really see much other than the roads and cities as we went through them.

As for leaving the country.  I've been to Windsor, Canada.  and the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.  And that's really it.

The foreign country I'd like to visit the most I would say would be Australia.  I'd love to take some sort of Nature tour, and see many unique animals that live there.  Sydney and Darwin seem like the cities I'd go too, because Sydney is already a tourist spot, and Darwin has a place where you shark cage dive with crocodiles.

Second is Poland.  That has more to do with my roots as my great-grandparents came from there.

Third is kind of a tie between Brazil and Japan.  One again for nature, the other for an interest in the culture.  

Fourth is another tie between the Uk and France.  There's more to do in the Uk, like visit England, then visit Loch Ness in Scottland.  I know I'm probably getting some details wrong that might prevent this, but traveling from country to country in a day is apparently common over in Europe.  Some are amazed when they learn how big the states are and were shocked to learn you can't visit the Grand Canyon and New York City in the same weekend.  I'll put Italy in there as well.

Honestly, given the means there aren't a lot of places I wouldn't go.  I mean, I wouldn't go to N. Korea or Afghanistan or places like that.  But I would really like to broaden my world experiences.

Plus Bungee jumping.  I'd be willing to try that once.  

[Trevor]

My bucket list:

To travel the world (although the pandemic put the kibosh on that)
To have my book published.
To hold a bad movie festival locally and invite all of you (all expenses paid from anywhere in the world) to it, so that we can all sit in the cinema and do MST3K riffs on them.
To have every single film in our archive digitized.
To go to places where movies have been filmed (I have been to where Zulu, The Ghost & The Darkness, The Wild Geese and others were filmed) but I mean places where films like The Room and Space Mutiny were made 

[WingedSerpent]

I wonder if I qualify as a hipster or I just have a certain amount contrarian elements to me.  What's the mid point between a hipster and a mainstream person.

Obviously, I like a lot of movies that aren't really mainstream.  But that's something that could be said about all of us, consider what this board is dedicated too.  I've liked a lot of shows that lasted only a season or two.  My brother once saw my music playlist and told me my taste in music is all over the place.  Really, I prefer songs over whole music genres.  But a lot of songs I like do fall into a few styles.  I like alternative, classic rock, and lately I've been getting into what's called Synth Metal. 

And I completely understand the whole I liked it before it was popular mindset.  There's a few tings I liked that got popular and now don't feel quite as special.  Or the fan based got really annoying. And some popular stuff doesn't appeal to me. 

I don't think anyone who knows me would describe me as one.  I guess I just understand the mindset.

[WingedSerpent]

Taking a week off, starting Monday.  Its part mental break from work, and part work vacation in that I have a few projects I've been meaning to get to and have been putting them off.  Some of those projects are getting more into what's becoming my self taught computer coding.  I've tried doing it through a local community college but I've run into a few bad teachers.  Not mean or unpleasant-but one that was clearly not a right fit to be a teacher. Plus I can save some money just by trying to work at my own pace through things like Udemy.

For my own pleasure, I've got a course on my new graphic design and animation software.  Plus a 3D modeling program because I'd like to try my hand at some 3D printing.

Funny though, there's one day I still have to go to my work, so I can receive my free flu shot.

Got to be at least one day trip this week as well.  Columbus zoo most likely. 

[WingedSerpent]

Well, this weekend was not one but two different conventions.

First was Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio.  Demoed a few games.  Only ended up buying one.  I did buy some art work and a few new D20's.  I've never really played Dungeons & Dragon's but I'd like to give it a shot.  Maybe find some solo campaigns to experiment with classes and such.

I due like now that there are board and card games that include a solo mode.  I've had the feeling of spending too much time in front of a screen.  I needed a few extra activities to take me away from it for a while.

The other convention was Cinema Wasteland here in Cleveland.  Its a convention I'm sure a lot of you guys would enjoy in that its devoted to trashy cinema.  They even had some B-Movie stars and directors show up.  Didn't spend too much time and money but its always fun to just walk around it.

[WingedSerpent]

Well, today had somewhat of a nasty surprise.  I was going to go see The Last Duel  and while I was using my computer my monitor goes out.  I check the cables, unplug and replug in everything. Switch the power button on and off a few times.  Nothing.  After fiddling around with it for a long time. I break down and go to Best Buy to pick up a new one.  The monitor I'm using now is a bit bigger then, but the colors seem just a bit off.  Like some aren't as saturated  or bright as they should be.  Sometimes, and some other colors look alright.  But right now, it is a bit noticable.

Spent some time adjusting the brightness and contrast as well.  Still haven't gotten it right, and ended up missing my movie.  Its an unexpected expense as well, it what is turning out to be an expensive month for me.

[WingedSerpent]

Not much this week.  But it does seem that October went by really fast for me.

[WingedSerpent]

We had somebody collapse at work today.  I don't know what it was from. But they had to take him out on a stretcher. Good guy. I don't really talk to him that much. But then again I don't talk to many people at work.  What worries me is that he's not that much older than me.  I should really schedule that doctor's appointment I've been putting off.

[WingedSerpent]

As this year mercifully comes to a close , like a lot of people I'm looking back at what I did. And you know what.  I really think I've made some real positive and and did good on working towards goals.

I bought a bunch of online courses through udemy and these last few months I've gotten through 4 or 5 of them.  Still got a lot in my queue, but progress is progress.  By doing the Track the books you've read thread I do see that I've read more books this year then the previous one.

New habits forming in me trying to stay off my computer or tv an hour before bead.  Which has helped my sleep habits.

Even this thread is a way to get me to interact with this site a bit more.  I seem to post in burst rather than consistently interacting.

Got a new car.  (New to me at least.)

I didn't really suffer some great tragedies.  Still restrictions and such haven't gotten that much easier to bear.    And admittedly, I'm still not where I'd like to be in life.

Not sure I can say I have a positive outlook on 2022. But I do think I can stay a little more constant with moving forward.

[WingedSerpent]

Yesterday was the first time I ever took a sick day because of the weather.  We had 15 inches of snow in one night. I could not get my car out of the drive way, for more almost an hour of shoveling and snow blowing. And the snow plows didn't get too my street until late in the day.  At a certain point, I just called off.

And it felt good.

I mentioned before a few times I am really unhappy with my current job, but I don't want to leave until I have something better lined up. I wish I could take part in this Great Resignation that's going on, but I'm not that type of person.

[Alex]

Hope you enjoy the day off.

[Trevor]

Yesterday was the first time I ever took a sick day because of the weather.  We had 15 inches of snow in one night. I could not get my car out of the drive way, for more almost an hour of shoveling and snow blowing. And the snow plows didn't get too my street until late in the day.  At a certain point, I just called off.

And it felt good.

I mentioned before a few times I am really unhappy with my current job, but I don't want to leave until I have something better lined up. I wish I could take part in this Great Resignation that's going on, but I'm not that type of person.

I nearly resigned from my job in 2020 after being passed over for promotion but I'm glad I didn't because Mom got sick.

[WingedSerpent]

I was watching some clips of Who framed Roger Rabbit a few days ago. Its one of if not my favorite examples of animation.  And I love movies that combine traditional looking 2D animation and live action. Even movies like Cool World and Looney Toons: Back in Action get a bit of a pass from me because they tried it.

Looking at some behind the scenes features, the videos talked about how they integrated Roger and the other toons into the live action footage, by rigging props to move and match the rendering to the lighting of the scenes. But that got me thinking. And I have not been able to shake this thought for nearly a day.

If we did live in a world like that-What would a cartoon feel like?  In the movie, they clearly have mass and occupy space, so what's the texture like. Because its also implied, they were made of ink and paint.  When Eddie grabs Roger, did he feel like an actual rabbit, or did he have a plastic like feel like congealed paint?   And if they were made of ink and such, did they have a smell to them.

These are the important questions, people!

[ER]

Oooh, neat topic. Lemme think....

My cousin Dana took mescaline in college (several times) and was watching some cartoon on tv while under the influence and I remember she said she could feel the characters and they felt squishy like those anti-stress squeeze balls from dollar stores. (Maybe toons don't have bones?)

She didn't mention smell though.

I did used to know someone with synesthesia and he'd tell me what colors smelled and sounded like, but unless you got a Ouija board I can't ask if he ever smelled any cartoons.

Hope that helps!