Isqua Istari

Dear Amsterdam,

Why are you always browsing my image gallery? It seems like half the time I hunt down the IPA of someone on my CG image gallery, it’s you! All I can say is someone served by the “RIPE Network Coordination Centre” seems to be spending a lot of time browsing.

Instead of snooping around my gallery all the time, why don’t you send me an e-mail? Maybe we could go out for hot chocolate and talk. Don’t by shy Amsterdam, it seems we have a lot in common!

Sincerely,

www.peripheralarbor.com

So I’ve had this idea in my head for a while, figured I’d get it out there. It’s not as if anyone reads this blog anyway (sorry Dan). Essentially it’s an extended metaphor of diet and desire.  I think the following ideas may be right on the edge of the metaphor breakdown point, the crumbling precipice if you will. I invite you to accompany me on this surreal and vertiginous stroll.

So there are several ways that I get what I want (Many examples are first person today, to avoid vague references. I think this applies to everyone though). I can take it from someone else, or make it myself. Say I want food. If I only take from others, I do so to their detriment, a carnivore. A farmer, however, harms no-one (plants are not people in this metaphor). Both end up with what they want. (more…)

It appears that people would rather have a great quantity of mediocre posessions than a few excellent ones. Why is this?

Does it have to do with thermodynamics, where sharp gradients are discouraged? Or perhaps mediocre people don’t take good care of their expensive goods, causing them to degrade to a mediocre level of quality (also thermodynamics). Maybe it’s just misplaced frugality, buying cheap and often. Perhaps the frequent purchasing distracts from a futile life.

Whatever the reason, I’d rather have one reliable mechanical pencil than a box of wooden ones. Or one set of plastic dishes than a stack of paper ones. Or one good friend rather than a flock of shallow acquaintances.

Maybe it’s just me.

Hey everyone! Just thought I’d let all of you loyal readers (Hi Mom!) know that I recently started doing commissions. Fast, quality, and cheap! What else could you ask for? Apply now, before one of the three changes.

I prefer working from concept art or sketches, but I can go off of a description as well. I’ve been doing 3D graphics for a while now. Something about the pure geometry and creativity appeals to me. If you need a 3D model or a rendering of a 3D model, send me an e-mail! There must be a LargeNumber of 3D modeling services out there, but now…
LargeNumber += 1

To Whom it may Concern, or Who is There,

I have the skills that you are asking for.
I’m good at SolidWorks and AutoCAD.
I’m spending time to write you, though I am
quite far across the nation at the time.

Examine this (my Resume) attached.
Feel free to give a call if you’re intrigued.

Sincerely, Paul D. Spooner, and my phone:
eight oh five nine one oh five eight one four.

I’ve been working on my little programming project, AutoMasonry, for over two years now. The problem with starting a project, is you never know exactly what you’re getting into. For example, I got the initial test version working in just an afternoon. I could make stone walls! It was great!

Now, I’ve added arches, radial stonework, variable openings, and lots of other features. It seems every new feature takes longer to add than the previous one… probably due mostly to my horrible design architecture. I’m learning though, and I think my code today is probably unrecognisably better than when I first started the project. I’m getting tantalyzingly close to releasing v0.2, which will probably look very similar to the first “real” V 1.0 release. Yay! Only a few more years now…

I was looking around on the internet for a good, short, example debate for children. Finding nothing convincing, I wrote this up. It is intended as an informal example of a formal debate. Please let me know if there are any major problems with this format or style, since I am not a debate person myself.

Topic:
Mashed potatoes… Blessing or Bane?

Introduction:
“Mashed potatoes are a staple of american and irish food. Some people like them, and some people do not. We have here the Pro side and the Con side, to present their views on mashed potatoes. We will have the Pro side first.”

Pro side speaks:
“Mashed potatoes are healthy, and delicious. They are cheap, which makes this fantastic food accesable to the poor and rich alike. They are easy to eat, which is important to people with braces, or without teeth. They can also be sculpted into many shapes. Since they are white, food coloring has a dramatic effect. Overall, mashed potatoes are good tasting, good for you, and good looking.

Con side speaks:
“Mashed potatoes are a blight on the culinary landscape, a colorless, tasteless, paste-like staple food. Their high carb content can cause weight gain. Without the skin, they have almost no nutritional value. Many times, mashed potatoes are reconstituted from freeze dried crumbs, further eliminating valuable vitamins. Overall, whole grains like rice or whole wheat have better flavor and texture, and carry more nutritional value.

Con side counters Pro side’s arguments:
Although cheap and easy to consume, potatoes are merely on par with rice and wheat. A wheat paste (such as cream of wheat) or raw cooked rice can provide the same nutritional value, at a lower cost. Mentioning the sculpture value of food is frankly laughable, as is raising points about colorability. Who really cares if they can make a realistically colored sculpture with their food? Food is for eating! Really, who would want to eat mashed potatoes when they could be eating something better tasting and better for you.

Pro side counters Con side’s arguments:
Far from tasteless, mashed potatoes take on the flavor of many other foods, allowing them to amplify and support a full spectrum of flavor. Any food can be rendered less nutritional through processing. Potatoes without the skin, or highly processed mashed potatoes will of course be of a lower quality than fresh food. This does not in any way diminish the potential of the food to be counted among the favorites of the world. Although wheat and rice are widely available, many choose potatoes, and mash them with relish.

Well, it’s been fun, but my stint in Seattle as a volunteer 3d artist is coming to a close. I should be back in Camarillo by the 26th. I’ll be trying to finish up some stuff here, get some graphics polished off that would be difficult to do remotely. I’ve learned a lot about how a movie goes together, what counts, and what doesn’t matter. I’ve also discovered that I have a ton left to learn, but that’s life right?

In other news, I’ve decided to try a temporary 30 hour sleep schedule, instead of the traditional 24 hour one. I should be back to normal on Wednesday, but it’s been interesting, so far so good! I went to bed today at 10:00 in the morning, and woke up around 5:00 pm. Tomorrow I’ll be going to bed at about 4:00 pm. If this works, I may try to keep it up on a more regular basis. The extra two hours a day could prove handy. Handy, that is, if I’m not a slobbering zombie by the end of it.

Anna is flying up Wednesday, and we’ll be hanging out for a few days here in Seattle. Then, on Friday, Cailin (her sister) will be arriving and we’ll start driving back south. After a short stop to visit Ben, we’ll be picking up Deborah in Eugene and then all head down to Camarillo. Once again, it’s Paul and three girls on a trip… How does this keep happening?

All my male friends are gainfully employed, that’s how! Speaking of work, Dan took some time off and came up for about five days. He took a number of pictures, I’ll try to get him to post them at some point. It was great having him up here, and I’m looking forward to being back in Camarillo.

Well, I didn’t end up working on the 48 hour film. They didn’t need any CG done, which was just as well because I got to relax and get some reading done. In the ensuing week and a half I’ve gone to visit Ben, done a bunch of CG modeling, watched a few movies, carved a pumpkin, and slept a lot. Some days I get a lot of modeling done, some days it seems like almost nothing gets accomplished. Yesterday was a good day, today is probably going to be a “nothing” day, but we’ll see. In the weather department, there is finally rain in Seattle. For a few weeks there it looked like I was going to be sunny skies the whole time.
Well, I’m off to get some breakfast and read some more of “Piloting Seamanship and Small Boat Handling” by Charles F. Chapman

Hey all! I’ve been having a productive time up here in Seattle. Getting lots done on Project London, though not much else… Working a solid eight hours every day doing 3d graphics, it’s been pretty intense.
This weekend is the 48 hour film festival, I’m on call for post-production and 3d special effects. Should be sweet, and it certainly will be short. Starts this Friday, though I probably won’t be doing anything important until late Saturday some time. Hopefully we’ll get a great little movie out of it!
The weather has been lovely, though not as much rain as I had hoped. Ian says it’s all getting saved up for Halloween.
That’s what’s going on! I’ve posted a few photos from the trip on my website.