Intentional Blankness

 You wait... time passes...

As it turns out there's been nothing much happening in this space.  Of course, there's been lots happening in the world, but I have neither taken the time nor had the motivation to write anything about it or anything else, at least not on this blog.

I do keep meaning to find some use for this blog, but again, time and motivation have been working against me.  Also, figuring out things to say takes effort and my creative efforts have been channelled elsewhere.  While none of that is likely to change much, I may nevertheless make an effort to write up some posts regarding the major project that I have been engrossed in for the last few years or so.

Maybe.

I make no promises, and it's not like I have an audience, so this is likely to be for my own amusement, whichever direction it goes.

Enough rambling for now,

Freak Out

-TFitC

New Car Small

I bought a Tesla on the weekend - two of them even!  Here they are chilling on my bookshelf with Bumblebee:

On the left is a Tesla Roadster, on the right is a Model S and in the middle, disguised as a VW Beetle (and feeling rather old fashioned about it - and perhaps even a bit self-conscious given the recent VW diesel scandal thing) is Bumblebee.  It is probably obvious at this point that these aren't real Teslas (I don't have anywhere near that kind of money), rather these are the Hot Wheels versions which I found whilst doing some Christmas shopping.  Now, I don't personally care much about the Roadster (as it's not the sort of car I would buy myself even if I did have the money) but as there was a Model S available and they were cheap ($1 each!) I figured I'd pick up the pair.

Anywho, that is all for the nonce.  There may be other posts coming before too long...

Freak Out,
-TFitC

Isn't it Ironic?

After a much longer delay than intended (I have no excuse) the latest episode of The Word Smith makes its internet debut at the usual venue.  I hope to get the next page up much quicker than this one, but as this weekend is looking to be somewhat busy it's probably not going to be up next week.

And now a discussion about irony.

One tricky thing about writing a comic about a grammar conscious super hero who fights to protect the English language (or thus he would claim) is that I really ought to at least make the effort to be as correct as possible with my grammar in the comic, and I am not a grammar nut.  Granted, there's definitely some leeway with writing dialogue since real people don't always talk perfectly grammatically and they usually manage to understand each other just fine even so.  But still, it's the principle of the matter, and, while I think I'm reasonably competent when it comes to writing and stuff (technical term, that, "stuff"), I don't really have any personal pet peeves and I don't really nitpick about the finer points of grammar or things like that.  This can make coming up with topics a bit tricky.

Sorry, that was a bit long winded there.  Moving onto the actual topic of the moment:  irony.

As part of writing this episode of the comic, I did some reading up on definitions of irony to try to make sure I was using the term at least passingly correctly.  It seems to me that irony is one of those things which is a bit nebulous:  oh, there's definitions and examples and that's all well and good, but it's not something as well defined as, say, 2+2=4, and there seems to be some leeway as to what is or is not considered to be irony.

An example.  Some people seem to think that sarcasm is (or can be) a form of verbal irony, but this is by no means universal and not all sarcasm is ironic.

The situation that I have set up in this episode has attempted to employ situational irony -- The Pen has gone to some lengths (to the point of turning off her phone) so that her boss cannot contact her and drag her into some language related escapades but, as today's page shows, language related escapades appear to be happening anyway.  Is this ironic?  I'm still undecided on the matter, which is why I have the Waitress (real name as yet undetermined) babble a bit about the subject in the final panel.

TLDR version:  go look at this other comic which seems to match up with my thoughts on the matter fairly well.  Also go read my comic.

Until next time
Freak Out,
-TFitC

Year of the Freak

NARF!!

Do do... Do do...

Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the internet...

Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak!!!!!!!!!!

Babble, Babble, Babble

I'm working on my "comp II" (not right now, I mean in general) which I've mentioned before - it's one of those requirements for my PhD. Every now and then, I get stuck with a bit of writer's block. When that happens, I sometimes just start typing random babble, stream-of-conscious type of stuff, in an effort to try to get things started again, with varying degrees of success. If nothing else, it usually leaves me with something somewhat strange to look at for a bit.

Since there hasn't really been much blog-worthy stuff happening of late (though I should probably do a final write-up for the comic workshop), I figured I'd inflict a couple of the more recent stream-of-conscious eruptions on my one or two actual readers so that they can boggle at it. BOGGLE I SAY!

Here's one from a couple of weeks ago (or thereabouts - I don't timestamp them):

...while also being a contestant on Jeopardy!, but not Wheel of Fortune (which is for dumb people). There are two rules for every yard stick, most notably the inevitability of walls to be solid, at least when yellow. Foreasmuch as nine bricks forms a collection, there is a sparrow that drinks tea and sings ballads about walruses in tutus. There is nothing in so much as there is something, but when those notions become palatable, it is really for the best that they be shelved with the mustard. This I know for I have worn socks, but not because I have hands on my feet. That would just be silly. It is my esteemed thought that the whole of the part is nothing that cannot overcome the adversity which you now face, which is nautical.

And the most recent one, being the one from just before I made this post:

Content. Like a table. Flat and made of wood. Ergo: bording, dull, insipid -- you get the idea. Or do you? Idea's are, after all, rather ephemeral, you can't get them like you can get, say, a cold, or the bubonic plague. Not that you can actually get the bubonic plague these days either, but, well, that's really neither here nor there. It's over there. Maybe under. Like underground. Which is where you might be if you had the bubonic plague. Or after, I suppose. But I digress. Or perhaps regress. Or even depress. Although what I press, that's harder to say. I certainly don't work for a newspaper and there are no big red buttons around either. Not to imply the buttons are necessarily round. Or red. Or big. Big and red even, like a dog, except that I don't like dogs so I won't go there. But maybe over there. And there we are, again, back over there. What's so fascinating? Is it like a train wreck, or one of those trashy talk shows? Though how those work I couldn't say. I mean, you can't show talk to someone, after all, it's just sound -- it's ephemeral, like ideas. Unless your ideas are announced by a big glowing lightbulb appearing over your head out of nowhere. Maybe you've got word balloons floating over your head -- then you could show those to somebody. They might still think you're crazy, but it would be a start. It would be like you're at a race, or something, but what would you race? Stuff? Or things? And who would win? Well, I suppose that would depend on who had the fastest stuff -- zero to stuff in sixty seconds. That's a minute. Not minute which is to say, small. Well, I suppose your stuff could be small, but that's none of my business so I won't pry. I won't even try to pry, though it might be wry. Why? I won't lie... because I'm not really sure where I was going with that so I'll just let it fly. Like a house.

And that is that. I'll have to see about writing up a finale for the comic workshop in the next few days or so.

Freak Out,
-TFitC

Earthquake!!

I knew I felt some odd rumbling in the lab earlier this afternoon. Turns out I was right.

And just so this isn't just a one-liner, here's a screen shot of my current research-in-progress:

It's the most recent version of my panel layout algorithm. Things are progressing fairly smoothly, at least when I'm not procrastinating or whatever.

Freak Out,
-TFitC

Some Random Blather

In an effort to get past some writer's block today, I spewed out the following:

Run to the border, because if you don't run, you'll have to walk, and if you have to walk, you'll wear the soles off the bottom of your shoes, and if that happens, you'll have to get new shoes. Or perhaps you'll wear off the bottom of your feet until you're reduced to walking on the stubs of your ankles and that would just be all sorts of awkward, not to mention likely causing balance issues. So, it's up to you, really. Will you run, or will you end up waddling along on the bloody stumps of your ankles, all because you were too lazy to go out and buy some new shoes? I know, I know, it doesn't seem fair - after all, why should you be forced to go out and buy new shoes if you're happy with the ones you have now? And why not sandals? Or slippers? Or maybe you feel like being all glamourous and wearing some high heels, even though that would mean you're cross dressing. Or at least your feet would be, even if the rest of you wouldn't be. But if you're going to do that, why not go all the way? I mean, what's stopping you? Oh, sure, society might still not entirely approve of that sort of thing, but who am I to judge? And lets be honest here, it's just not the sort of thing you can half-ass, nope, it's either all the way in, or not at all. Which brings us back to those shoes - don't you think they're looking a little ratty? Which isn't to say you have rats in them, or that you wear rats on your feet (goodness no, now that would be more than a little weird, wouldn't it?) but that they're - how can I put this kindly... well, I can't, really, they look like crap. Your shoes really do look like crap. Now, normally I wouldn't point this out, I don't habitually go around telling people their shoes are crap, after all (that would be weird too, not to mention a little neurotic), but when I see an eyesore like that, well, I just can't help pointing it out. I might laugh, too, but now, that would just be mean. So you come in here, wearing shoes that look like all it would take to make them disintegrate would be nothing more than a good sneeze and I have just one question to ask: would you like to super size your tacos? Because we can totally do that. You could even wear them on your feet, you know, if you wanted to.

Freak Out,
-TFitC

Babble, Babble

We want to do some things, that are like things, and some other things, that are more like stuff. When something is done, or when stuff is done, there is a reaction to a perpedicular vector. Or maybe a canteloupe. Regardless, the other stuff is roasting to a sizzling height of consciousness. I know not what that means, it's just all gobbledegook. Where does it all end? For that matter, where did it start? Nothing is the same now that everything is nothing. A dollar bill fell on my head the other day and that causes the wall to collapse, because dollar bills are coins now. Haven't you heard? The eleven o'clock train came by at ten. But that was then and this is not then. Perhaps it is now. Or maybe it will be now later. Whichever is the case, I am wearing socks, and my socks are wearing little velvet hats covered in sparkles. But they don't sparkle because they're defective. I know that because they were made by badgers. Lousy, lousy badgers. My mind reels at the mediocrity of it all. Or it would if there were anything mediocre about, but it's all sauce, sauce covered in noodles and topped with a plate. My glasses are too tight and maybe that's why I'm babbling like this. Er. So, stuff...

Math on Wheels

On the way to school this morning I saw a car that was very solidly pink. It stood out because it's not the sort of thing one sees every day - certainly not a common colour for a car. Its license plate also had the word "PINK" in it, so I guess the driver must really like pink.

Freak Out,
-TFitC

This Just In!

Hey! Today is the last day of September.

Just thought I'd let everyone know.

Freak Out,
-TFitC
(This message brought to you by the committee for inflating post counts.)

Potpourri

There hasn't really been anything that I've had a pressing need to blog about lately - not that there is ever really a pressing need for me to blog about anything, but less so over the past couple of weeks than normal, anyway - so I'm going to do an essentially random summary of recent events. Yay for recap episodes!

I gave my first tech talk at the weekly lab meeting last week. Everyone in the lab takes turns and, given the number of people in or attached to the lab, it seems to work out to about twice per year. Since I've not started any actual research yet, my talk was about my Masters' Thesis, essentailly the same talk I gave at Siggraph five years ago this summer. Seemed to go ok, especially since I basically hadn't looked at the stuff since Siggraph. Hopefully I'll have my PhD research started by the time my turns comes around again.

Also finished the first draft of the scene I'm writing for FASS 2010 last week. As expected it was on the long side, but it seems like some of the stuff will fit in one or another of the other scenes so there won't be too much that's actually lost when I start to trim things down. However, this means I have to restructure the first half of the scene and it's not quite as straight forward as I had thought. Oh well, I'll figure something out.

Been a bit lazy on my RPG editing tools lately, but got a little bit of work done on them this afternoon. I've been a little hung up on how to go about managing some data, but I think I've got a workable solution (though it may get changed later on) so I can start making some progress. Hoping to have it to the point where a player can walk around maps by the end of the summer so I've got to get moving if I plan to meet that goal.

And lastly, it looks like I may not be taking any courses again in the Fall term. So far, there's no graphics courses being offered and nothing else really catches my eye. I know there'll be at least one graphics course in the winter term, but for now I may just TA two courses for the fall if nothing else shows up.

Anyway, that, as they say, is that.

Freak Out,
-TFitC

VENETOR!

The route that some friends used to take to get to the 401 would take them past a company called Venetor which appears to be a supplier of heavy machinery for construction, probably farm vehicles and so on. They found the name Venetor amusing and had come up with a spiel involving Venetory, the full moon, the blood of virgins and all that. I've not been that way in a while and had pretty much forgotten about it, until today when I saw a machine with the Venetor label on it on campus, which gave me a little chuckle.

Freak Out,
-TFitC

Vehicular Vanity

Every now and then I comment on license plates that I see that amuse me for one reason or another. It's been a little while since I've seen one that was noteworthy (not that I actively seek these things out or anything), but today I saw one whilst biking home from school, cutting through the parking lot of the Giant Tiger as I am wont to do. It read:

EMBRO

Make of that what you will.

Freak Out,
-TFitC

P.S.

Looking at my post tags, it appears that the last post I made on this subject was about the same license plate. Huh. Well, go figure.

Roving Observations

On my way home from errands this morning, I found myself briefly behind a mini-van with a license plate that said "EMBRO". Now, I know Embro is small and insignificant, but it's still remarkable that they managed to stuff the entire village into a single mini-van.

Or perhaps they're all a bunch of clowns.

Freak Out,
-TFitC

Not Wearing Underwear Today

Well, actually I am, but the song from Avenue Q has been bouncing through my head the past few days. And, yes, this is a post about underwear - my underwear, to be precise, so if that seems like its going to be too much in the realm of "too much information" then theres a nifty post about a couple of my projects just below this one to read instead.

Anywho... I needed to get some new underwear recently and decided to get some boxes, for something different (nearly forgot I'd gotten them, too) and I have to say the feel weeeeeeird! It's like wearing a pair of shorts under my jeans. Yes, I know they're called boxer *shorts*, and while I was expecting them to feel a bit odd at first, I was just expecting them to feel a little less odd.

Oh well. I think I'm starting to get used to them now, so that's fine.

Freak Out,
-TFitC

Song of the Cheese Dinners

Well, the weekend is at an end - the long weekend. I don't know why, but that always makes me feel a bit restless. I suppose it tends to seem like I'm just starting to enjoy myself and then *wham!* it's back to work. I always think that the whole work-life balance issue is rather off-kilter (and this is for society as a whole, not necessarily me in particular) - though those who know me know my opinions on the matter so there's not really any need to go into that, and that's not really what this blog is supposed to be about anyhow.

So, there's not really any point to this post. Babbling into the ether generally seems to calm me down a bit. Nothing much else going on right now anyway. Orchestra will be starting back up soon which I'm looking forward to and which is bound to make me a bit busier for a few months. Guess I should pull out the cello and get it tuned up, at the very least.

Freak Out,
-TFitC