So now that I have an iPad...

I didn't buy an iPad because I thought it would help me with my blog. I actually just bought it because I've always wanted one. And of course I cheaped out and bought a used iPad 2, with a cracked screen. But it's just a corner crack and the whole screen still works just fine, even the corner where the crack is.

Before I had bought an iPad, I imagined all the productive things I'd do with it. Now that I have one, I almost don't know what to do on it. I got my blogger app. I got a photo editing app. I could look into a word processor or office suite of some kind. I've been looking into getting some audio/video editing apps and sketching and drawing apps.

I think I should uninstall the games though, or most of them. I installed some of the games I have on my iPhone. I don't really need them duplicated on another device, now that I think about it.

So that's the latest update from the world of njmstudios. I know I keep promising myself that I'm going to stay on top of this blogging thing. I'll probably fail yet again, but I'll try to make some effort.

The website...

So I've had the website for some time now. Originally I had planned to use it for everything related to NJM Studios as an independent film company, but since I've put all my film projects on hold for so long, it hasn't actually gone anywhere. I'm actually planning on getting that going finally.

Got some ideas for some animated films I want to make. Would be nice to have something in the Fargo Film Festival eventually. And the site was intended for all the news related to the production of said films. So this summer should finally see some progress in that area.

Now that I have an iPhone...

And I looked for a blogger app, maybe I'll be able to stay on top of this blogging thing. However, I don't know if this app has a landscape mode, which I would prefer. I might cramp up my hand typing this way. ALL touchscreen phone apps should support a landscape mode. I hate how some apps do and some don't.

Ok, time to get serious...

Ok now. It is time for me to get serious. I've had this blog for too long without doing anything with it. But I'm going to start posting more of my writing. Yeah, I know, I have a separate area of my website that has my poetry posted. But, just for ease of use, I think I'm going to start using my blog to post all my other writings. Prose, short stories, the novel I've been working on forever... Scripts I've written in the past.

I wrote a play in high school. And I don't think it's any good. But since I've been thinking about it the past few days, I want to write another one. Just need a good idea to roll with.

As for my novel, it started out as a short story. Then I just kept adding and changing things. And it got more in depth, and started to get too long to be a short story. It started to become about the length of a novella. And I still have ideas and elements that I want to work into it. So I'm going to continue with it.

I've only ever shared it with one other person outside my family. And even within my family, only my brother John really knows about it. Oh and mom. I told her about it once. She wants me to finish it and try to get it published. Because if I did, I'd trump my dad who's been writing forever, and never had anything published as far as I know. If I got published before him, maybe he'd be mad, or glad, or who knows what. Maybe it would be the impetus he needs to finally try and get his own work out there.

My point though, was that I'm going to start sharing it in blog form, little by little. I'd post it in chapters, but while it does have definite splits, there are no defined chapters as yet. It's just one long story with a few breaks. But as I refine the layout and edit more, chapters may yet arise. In the meantime, I'm going to find all my other works I've written over the years, and start posting them too...

It's time I stepped out of the shadows and shared what makes me, me...

Almost a year

It seems like I make a post and then forget about the blog for a whole year before I come back and make another post. I think that just really shows that I'm not really into blogging. In fact, that's kind of why I'll never join Twitter. I can't possibly think of why I would need to post what I'm doing at any odd hour of the day. And in only as many characters as a text message.

I'm on Facebook... hmm another link to think about adding to my website, there. But I don't even log into that very often. Only when I remember to, really. Most of the friends I have on there are from high school and it was a great way to reconnect with them again.

But otherwise, I don't know. Maybe if I had more free time and was more concerned with spending it online instead of playing video games, well. What can I say, I'm a big kid. Love video games. And I'll probably keep playing them until I'm old and grey. But that's because I've grown up with video games and I've seen them evolve from simple squarish graphics (atari) to beautifully rendered 3d worlds, lifelike, and realistic (ps3, xbox 360...). I just want to see where video games will be in 20 years, 40 years, etc.

2D Animation

I've started using a wonderful program called Synfig. It is a 2D vector animation program. I have it installed on both my windows laptop and my linux desktop. It's free and you can get it here. I've played around with Blender a little bit, and have done quite a bit of work with Anim8or. And while blender and anim8or could do something approximating 2d animation, I wanted a program that did it natively. A couple other programs I've heard about in the 2d animation arena are Pencil and Inkscape, but I've not tried these programs.

So working with synfig, I've made my first 2d animation. It's located on my youtube channel. What else can I say? If anyone stumbles across this sorry mess of a blog, go check out these programs.

Blah Blah Blah...

Well I got the website back up. What else can I say I guess? No one reads this anyway. In the end I really only do this for my own amusement.

My brother, on the other hand, has a good idea for his website. Well, when he finally gets one up. But that's also because he has a single idea that he wants to formulate into a website. Me... well I have too many ideas and no inclination where to start really. And though I have plenty of ideas, I haven't really taken the time to implement or otherwise get them off the ground.

That's all for now, sucka.