When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. Or a tennis player. I didn't know how to do math or play tennis, so neither one really panned out, but a close runner-up was to do something with super-heroes. And every day, I get to live that dream.
Which prompted me to wonder:
What is your fondest real-life "Geek Dream"?
In other words, is there something you'd love to do in real life that revolves around your geek life? Maybe you dream of starring in an episode of your favorite show, or to own an original "Star Trek" uniform, or to meet Rob Liefeld in person to get his autograph. Maybe you dream of having a career in the geek world, like working on an actual comic or super-hero movie, or officiating a panel filled with your favorite stars at a big convention.
I'd love to hear what your dream is (or was, if it's since been fulfilled)! In return, you can ask me any question you like about whatever you like, which I will answer either completely truthfully or not at all (in which case you can ask something else). I say that because, come on, there are some things no one should have to know.
Thanks in advance for sharing!
I’ve been through, and discarded, SO many dreams: stupid AD/HD!!!
But I *did* want to be an astronaut, when I was a kid, just so I could go into space lie my heroes……
I’ve got several, in no particular order…
-Make bullying, especially for the sake of bullying, recognized as a crime against humanity
-Make video games
-Make tabletop games
-Invent cheap space flight
-Found a political party (will probably be called the “People with Functioning Brains” party, or something like that)
-Achieve relative immortality through robotics and brain preservation
-Kill an internationally wanted and hated terrorist with my bare hands
…
Hey, the requirement was that they should be possible in real life, not that they would ever be likely to happen.
Anyway… My question is, when trying to draw a scene (or otherwise a character doing something), what is the best way to overcome artist’s block? I often find that I really want to draw something, usually a character, but I often can’t think of a pose that I want to put the character in, or what the character should be holding, or what (if any) background elements should be put in the picture…
Jadebrain, the one and only way to overcome artist’s block is to start drawing. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know how you want it to look when it’s done, or what the other elements will be. The blank page is so intimidating that it will keep you from filling it forever if it can. Put some pencil on the page, just rough gesture drawings, knowing even before you start that you’re probably not going to actually use it. Just seeing the page with stuff on it can usually kick-start you into the right mode.
The important thing to remember is that you don’t start with the finished product all perfect and shiny, you end there. The beginning is supposed to be imperfect. So just start drawing!
I’ve realised one of my dream. I want to edit a scifi anthology. It’s done. I’ve worked with a little frenche small press and the book exist since november 2010. I’m lucky for that.
And i direct another anthology project for another publisher.
When I was about five I wanted to be a “great thinker” because I came across a book that talked about the “great thinker Thomas Jefferson” and thought that meant it was a real job.
When I was an undergrad I had this little fantasy about being a TA. I’ve since fulfilled that fantasy, and while I’d like to say wasn’t as glamorous as I’d imagined, it was pretty awesome. I loved the part where I would talk and twenty students would start writing stuff down.
Right now the dream is to become a British citizen. Not very geeky, but it is the motivator for all my life decisions at the moment.
So, Jeff, not to sound like a stalker, but you’ve got a degree in English, right? How did you go from that to all the computer stuff?
I wanted to be a writer in high school. I just was never able to focus enough to finish anything. Plus my low self esteem prevented me from ever showing my stuff to anyone. Cue the violin music.
Jeff, in light of all of the site issues of late, do you have some kind of back-up plan should HeroMachine bite the dust? (I really hope so!)
Well some of my Geek Dreams have happened.
I have worked in Book Stores for ten years, I was manager of a comic book store for 3 years, I have got to go to lots of cons, including Heroes Con South Carolina, Dragon Con in Atlanta and Comic Con in San Diuego, I’ve met William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Patrick Stewart, Johnathan Frakes, Avery Brooks, Cirroc Lofton(Jake Sisko), Kate Mulgrew, Yvonne Craig (Bat Girl),Lee Meriweather (Cat Women),
Aidren Barbou (Voice of Catwomen),Brad Majors – RHPS. Anthony Danials,Peter Mayhew,Jake Lloyd (Anakin Skywalker),
(Draco Malfoy),(Neville Longbottom),(Grimor Wormtongue),
(Anita Black writer),Richard and Wendy Pini (Elfquest),
Joe Phillips (gay artist),(Eddy Munster),Mickey Dolenz(The Monkees), hobnobbing with George Perez,
the list could go on and on and on between more actors and artists …
but all time fave moment was meeting artist Mike Grell (1970s Legion of Super Heroes) and getting a Lightning Lad commission from him,
As a kid I wanted to be an artist … That never really happened as I would have liked … Now due to my eyesight and other health issues, it is even less likely
And to answer the question of what is my current Fondest Geek Dream that hasn’t happened yet … is to win a HM3 Character Contest that YOU judged. No suck up! It’s true.
And as far as questions for you … I can’t think of any … well, none I think you would answer LOL 😀
AH, what would it take … OTHER than me winning a contest, to get an Otter head or companion? Actually I would want an otter head, paws and feet, so I can make an anthropamorphic otter … named Kiki Wavecarver 🙂
And if that sounds pushy .. please disregard 🙂
I have a couple of these also.
– Build a high end computer using all the latest and greatest parts
– Build a gaming table-top “tablet” like device that could be used during dnd sessions
– Have a 24 hour consol gaming marathon with several of my friend
If you had to chose 4 people to put on monument Mount Geekmore, who would you include and (if you don’t mind sharing) why?
Oh, I forgot. I also dream of losing my left eye in some interesting way (like a motorcycle accident) and replacing it either with a sexy eye patch or, provided technology allows, some sort of awesome cybernetic eye. My left eye is pretty atrocious. Losing it wouldn’t really be that big a deal.
Comic book writer, star wars character designer,trading card designer, those are what ive wanted to be, im trying to focus on comic book writer right now though.
I wouldn’t mind having a port in the back of my head like in the matrix so i could instantly learn things i wanted to know. Hey Jeff, how come we can’t have HM set up to have user names and passwords so we can have like our own account and be able to look at our works on any computer without having to have to save the text and forwarding it or saving them to outside source then transfering to work on them? You know what I mean?
I wanted to be a comic book desiegner. I am an artist, but now i do ceramics.
Well, when I was about 5 my ambition was, I think, to be a pilot or train driver. But at one point I wanted to be a member of International Rescue (from Thunderbirds).
But right now my two geek ambitions are:
-To take part in a D&D (or some other RPG) campaign before I turn 18.
-To go to Eastercon (a British sci-fi convention) at least once.
My question is, what are you most proud of about HeroMachine?
When I was young, I wanted to save the world because I saw so many unhappy people. Now, I’m not saving the world (yet!) but I plan on saving the planet in the future because I am going into Geomatics for university. Also, I may not save the whole world but my friends at school all think I save their butts every time I come up with the right answer to that horrible question on the exam! One small step at a time…
As for a question, I would like to know what your favorite cartoon was as a child?
I also wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. I kept wondering if I could touch the stars…
@mashlagoo, I love Mount Geekmore, that would be a really cool Character contest also. Since the face off contest went above and beyond.
Geek dreams, are to finish my games I’m working on along with some stories and other stuff. If you asked my wife her dream would be just for me to finish the stuff I have started.
Good thing about dreams is that they are something that you will always have, they are goals in life we set for ourselves, they are something special you can share with others, and there is a never ending supply of them.
Question for you Jeff, would be would you ever consider having a share day where you would ask everyone if they could have a choice of one item to be put into HM3, what item would they want and why? Knowing that some wild request would come in, ask for it to be just one item per person and nothing that would be totally off the wall. It would be a really good base to go off of. (Pictures would be helpful but also take up a lot of time on your part.
@punkjay , I have over 2000 molds and 2 kilns that I’m putting up for sell because my back will no longer let me do ceramics.
haz asked:
I liked working with computers in college, then in my first job no one understood them other than this one lady, and she mostly worked with the mainframe. So I had to kind of take over parts of the office computer system. When I wanted to move to Austin, there was an opening in Tech Support at Dell, which I took.
Eventually I moved to doing tech support at 3M in Austin, and found myself with TONS of time — and access to good computers! — on my hands. I came up with the idea for HeroMachine, decided to teach myself Flash to program it, and the rest is, as they say, history!
Dan asked:
Well, I’m not sure what you mean by backup plan … but if you mean “if the drive crashes and burns what happens to all the data” then … um … not really. I am working with DreamHost, though, on moving to a dedicated server better able to handle the load (site performance has been better the last two days since they tweaked it) and as part of that suite of services, they offer backups. So I probably will take advantage of that in the next week or so.
Cliff asked:
Convince someone else who won a contest to grant their prize request to you!
Seriously, at some point fairly soon I’m going to have to “auction off” unclaimed prizes, so you could make your plea then to get folks to vote for your stuff.
mashlagoo asked:
Ooo, good question! I’d be curious to hear everyone’s answer to that.
Let’s see … I’d have to definitely do George Lucas and Gene Roddenberry for sure. I mean, “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” are, arguably, the biggest cultural geek phenomena of all time.
After that … hmm …I’d have to go with J.R.R. Tolkien for basically defining an entire major genre of geeky fiction. Surely “Lord of the Rings” is to geek books what “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” are to geek movies.
And my last entry would be … Stan Lee. Yes, I said it! Stan the Man is, arguably, responsible for the major renaissance of comic book super-heroes. I think you could make a good case that without him and Marvel Comics in general, the entire genre would have died. Or at least, not been nearly as influential as it is today.
So those are mine — Roddenberry, Lucas, Lee, and Tolkien.
Definitely would love to hear who you all would pick and why. That’s a really good question, mashlagoo!
TOOL asked:
Setting up a user registration system is a pretty complicated endeavor, and raises issues beyond just the technical. How much personal information do you keep? How do you verify identity? How much storage space and bandwidth are needed to store characters on the server? Etc.
UGO has generally followed a model that makes generating traffic as easy as possible, which has meant they don’t want to put people through any kind of a registration system.
All of that combined is why we haven’t done anything like that before.
Trekkie asked:
I didn’t realize you were so young, that’s cool!
I am most proud that I built something that lets people unleash their inner artist to a degree I honestly never imagined. Some of the stuff you all create, it just blows me away. It really brought home how creative and imaginative people can be when they have the right tool in their hands.
Jessica asked:
Probably the classic “Bugs Bunny” Chuck Jones cartoons. They were so mature and funny and insane. Keep in mind we didn’t have as many options for toons back in those days as people do now!
Also, what’s Geomatics?
Hammerknight asked:
I never thought of that but it’s a GREAT idea! I’ll do that next time. Thanks once again HK, glad one of us has a brain!
I basically have two dreams. Maybe 3. Not all of them are geeky.
– Win the lottery. Not exactly original.
– Get out of debt and save enough money to afford my wedding.
– Become a professional writer.
The writing part has been a bit tricky. I can totally relate to Dan (6) because I always get ideas, I can’t stay focussed enough to finish one thing. And while I have been willing to share some of my stuff with friends, I’m not sure I’m confident enough with my work to shop it around.
No question yet. I may think of something later. Maybe.
My greatest geek dream is to either:
-Write a epic fantasy saga along the lines of The Banned and the Banished, A Song of Ice and Fire or of course Lord of the Rings.
– Create a video game or two, specifically a Martial Arts RPG because Jade Empire was awesome and I think the world needs more games in that genre.
– Star in a TV/Web based series involving the supernatural. (although that one is looking like being fulfilled, a friend is actually making a Web Series and i’ve been cast)
so there it is.
Question for you Jeff, is what attribute do you feel is most important when it comes to creation? Imagination or ability? Drive to complete a work? I mean this in a not just restricted to Heromachine manner, as you can tell from my dreams I like to create. For me imagination is the most vital part but i’d like to know your opinion.
StarMan2000 asked:
That’s a hard question. Without the imagination, you don’t have anything to do no matter how much talent or drive you have. But, without talent, your imagination doesn’t do you a lot of good. And if you have both talent and imagination but can’t ever complete anything, you’re just as sunk.
But, at least if you have imagination you can pay someone else to create it, sort of, so I’ll agree with you and say that’s the most important bit.
Alright, geek dreams! One I’ve started to work on fulfilling is my semi recent dream of becoming a fantasy/sci fi novelist. Two other dreams that are less likely to be fulfilled are creating my own trading card game along the lines of yugioh or magic the gathering (my favorites) and also to create one (if not more) anime series and actually get them put on the air.
I don’t mean to kiss up either but I have to say I like your picks for mount geek more Jeff.
As for a question. I feel like I (or someone else) has asked you this before, but do you prefer characters with guns and heavy firearms, are you more partial to medieval swords and shield, maces morningstars etc, or the more oriental style of weaponry, like katana, sai, nunchaku?
This was a very easy question. My big geeky dream would definitely be to meet aliens! Preferably not in the abduction way, but in a first contact or a completely unplanned encounter. Also acceptable would be for me to travel to an alien planet, but that’s even less likely.
I know it’s a bit unnecessary to go for aliens when there are plenty of people right here on the planet with exotic and fascinating cultures, but I suspect that it’s the appeal of the unknown, and what is more unknown than aliens? I’m apparently not alone either, since humans have been contemplating alient life for hundreds, even thousands, of years.
My question, then. HeroMachine is a flash program, which I’m guessing means there’s native support for animated HeroMachine items. Is this something you’ve considered, and if so, what were your conclusions?
Okay, I do have a question, but this is going to be pretty weird, because I’m looking for advice. I’ll even open this up to the community at large.
Anyone who went to my Ugo character thread in the last week has seen I’m without my computer, and that I’m using my phone (and when possible, my fiancee’s iPad). Just got word back from the shop that Toshiba is not covering the cost of repairs, so my options are:
1. Repair my computer for $200, which will take probably 2 additional weeks. No HeroMachining in that time. Computer is about 1.5 years old.
2. I have a friend in computer retail who thinks he can get me a newer computer for about $350-400. My old computer was fully backed up before I brought it in, so no data will be lost,and I’ll be back on my feet by the end of the weekend.
What do you guys suggest I do?
Reading comics since I was 5, I wanted to get into either comics or the production of movies. Who knew that there would be a day when the two held hands so closely.
Question – Any new items on the horizon? Not to be pushy or whiney, but they were coming fast and furious a month ago. Any sneak peeks on what’s in the cue? Call it geek greed, never satisfied. Cheers!
Joel asked:
I don’t really think of characters in terms of what they use, but more how they look with whatever they’re using. Having said that, I’m probably more of a martial-arts / fantasy fellow than modern firearms. I feel like it’s harder for some reason to get an iconic looking gun-wielder.
So I’ll go with medieval looking stuff.
Cliff (7): You might be able to convince another artist to make the items for you. I once made mention that we didn’t have any cyclops eyes to work with and another user (pardon I forgot who) actually took the time to make it. It was a nice suprise.
@Myro 31, If you have the cash to spend, go with the new one. It’s not like it’ll go to waste. Granted, I’m always in favor of a good upgrade.
Panner asked:
I want to say I actually made a couple of these at one point, but I can’t remember for sure … I think the issue was, it was of limited utility (beyond the flaming sword and such, I had a failure of imagination to figure what else we would do), depending on how you did it, you were limited in how you could position it, and it wasn’t something I could export — whatever PNG or JPG you get out would be static. So ultimately it wasn’t something that seemed worth the effort.
But I might try it on a sword or something to see how it would work … or maybe have an “animated effects” set or something …
@Myro – If you decide to buy a new computer, great! But don’t give up on trying to get Toshiba to front the cost to repair the old one. Write a letter, send an email, make a phone call. A computer that crashes after a year? Don’t be afraid to push, even if it seems like peanuts to them. It’s probably alot of money to you. Cheers!
Myro: Go new, baby! It’s almost always a good idea to buy as much power in a new computer as you can afford.
ams asked:
I feel terrible at the glacial pace of new item releases lately. I’ve got lots of excuses but they all suck. I’ve got a buddy in town for a week, after which hopefully I can get back on track. I apologize for the lack of production.
My very first and possibly longest dream is to become a paleontologist and study dinosaurs…but I’ve changed that to become a writer and write about them instead.
Jeff (39): Will that include dblade-submitted items as well?
I would be a famous author as i was a kid. Often i dream from my storys or i dream it and i have then a idea for a story.
And sometimes on present day i do it as well.
I’m always happy to put up dblade items. I have I think four in the queue.
Like I said Jeff, I didn’t want to sound pushy. You need summer vacation, too. Damn that geek greed!!!
My geek dream is to create a universe–a fictional one anyway, maybe even one built around some Heromachine characters. When I first discovered Heromachine three years ago, I created some characters that won’t leave me alone. They keep bugging me to tell their stories and hinting that they could turn into something really cool–or something that could really suck, I don’t know which. I’ve had writer’s block for ages, and I’m trying to get unstuck now.
Well, seeing as I am still in High School, I currently have a lot of dreams going at once, so I will just list them:
-Computer Scientist, preferably working for Google. This is probably the one that is the closest to coming true, seeing as I love programming, am willing to work hard and even pull all nighters to get good code, and seem to be really good at it. This past school year, I finished top of my AP Comp Science class and completed the class two years before anyone else in my school’s history. I also passed the AP test with flying colors 🙂
-Get into Stanford. Goes along with the first dream, but is still a good goal for me to have, so it will help me focus on my grades so I don’t get lazy and only do my Comp Sci homework.
-Meet Francis Manapaul and have hime make me a painting of a teenaged superhero (preferably the Stephanie Brown Batgirl). I have been a big fan of his art for a long time, and when I was at New York Comic Con last year, I was next in line to get a painting and he had to leave, so I got nothing 🙁
-Wear a Senator Amidala costume to New York Comic Con this year. The white outfit from Attack of the Clones. This one is pretty self-explanitory 🙂
So, Jeff, who is your favorite comic book artist? And if you don’t have one, what decade do you think has had the best art?
@Niall Mor(45): something that really helps me get over writers block is to make a bunch of audio recordings of me just speaking about different plot elements in my story and then transcribing them later. It is a lot more work, but it prevents you from worrying about writing it down, so things just seem to click more easily.
Thanks Jeff, I can understand that. I guess I will just make the effort to try and save a text file or just recreate from scratch, which can be fun, when I want a character.
Niall More (45): The advice for ending writer’s block is much the same as the advice Jeff gave Jadebrain for artist block. just start writing. Write character descriptions (both physical and personality/motivations). Write down setting ideas or plot points, or even write down imagined conversations that the characters might have. The best way to break down that dam is to keep poking holes in it until the ideas start gushing forth.
However, if the problem is actually motivation block, I can’t help with that. That one you’d actually have to make yourself want to do this. Just saying.
Jeff (21): I guess to answer my own question I would have to hit what I consider my 4 tiers of geekness.
Computer Geek – Bill Gates (I am certain there are others just as deserving but Bill Gates had a major hand in how personal computers are today)
Sci-Fi Geek – I have to agree with you on George Lucas (Though I do feel he has done some bad things with the Star Wars series).
Fantasy Geek – Again, I have to agree with you and go with J.R.R. Tolkien.
Gamer Geek – Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of NES Mario)because he probably saved the home console gaming marked and helped shaped it to be what it is today.
Zaheelee asked:
I don’t know that I can pick just one artist overall, but if I did, I’d probably go super old school and say Gil Kane. He had a very distinctive way of drawing that appeals to me, though I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is. Plus he’s just a dynamite storyteller.
Mashlagoo (50): While I can’t argue either yours, nor Jeff’s (21) appointments for Geek Rushmore, somehow, I’d want to fit Gary Gygax on my personal Geek Rushmore. Having killed more than several hours playing Dungeons and Dragons, and then subsequently turning to other tabletop RPGs since then, I think it would be only fitting.
I’ve always enjoyed books, and love working on computers, so I’d say I’m doing my dream job now (New Media Technician for my local county library)…
There’s two. First, I’ve always wanted to work in comics, since the first time I read one. I’m inching closer and closer to that goal. Whether my HM creations reflect it or not, I’ve spent the last year developing the characters and storyline for a comic series. I can’t reveal many details, because there’d be way too much to cover, but suffice it to say that it’s about a sort of Avengers/JLA group, if they operated more like SHIELD and got paid for their trouble. I’ve already written a full issue and a half. Got a cover for the first issue, and now all I need is an artist. Then I can submit it.
The second, an actual dream, I had a few times around the age of 7 or 8. I was on a world (or maybe cluster of asteroids) with floating platforms resembling small islands in the sky. The surrounding space was a mixture of Salvador Dali surrealism and an M.C. Escher sketch. I was fighting Shredder with the help of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The strangest part is that I still recall it.
Jeff: What two comic book characters would you love to see amalgamated, from any point in comic history? If you’d like, I can answer the question as well.
First dream that comes to mind is I would like to create a MMORPG. I have actually have done a lot for how it would work but, at the moment it is pretty much just a RPG.
Second dream would be to learn how to read, write, and speak every language I know of. I can name 56 of them but, I can only speak one well and 2 others only kind of sort of.
As for question…I just answered it as I was typing so maybe I will think of another one later…
I always wanted to go to a bookstore, movie theater or other such place and see my name on something. I would be happy even with a “based on characters by”. The more successful the better of course.
Also I would love to me Bruce Timm, Joss Whedon, or Gene Rodenberry, the last one would require a time machine though.
Super mega geek dream would be to work with on of them to bring an idea of mine to fruition.
Sharing day, the morning after. My favorite HeroMachine days are Mondays (New Contests) and Fridays (Sharing Day, Open Critique). Problem being, those are heavy work days resulting in binges.
Anyway… I share the same geek dream as most here. To get published, produce a TV series or movie. It’s why I sought out a program like HeroMachine in the first place. An outlet for creativity. Not to sound tragic, but this place and you guys fill a void.
My other dream was to become a linguist. I love language. Breaking it down, analyzing vocabulary and structure. Or simply its sound and idiosynchrocies. Tip for everyone studying a new language: do not try to interpret into your native tongue.
For example: If you are studying French, the word for “glass” is “verre.” Don’t sit there and say to yourself “verre means glass.” No, “verre” means “verre.” You waste a lot of time and even confuse yourself trying to translate word for word.
Also, do not be intimidated by writing systems. Japanese is an amazingly easy language to learn. Thanks to particles, and the language is a system of phonemes. People are turned off by hiragana, katakana, and kanji. How is it any different than “ion”, “iron”… like a “lion” in “Zion?” with a simple stroke of the pen, I have changed pronunciation and meaning four times. Non-Roman alphabets and writing systems are no different.
I guess that’s a geek dream… to meet a Japanese girl who speaks Italian. Or Laura Prepon.
Another random dream was to start a punk band: “Butt and the Retard Drivers.” Or design Zoids and Legos.
Winding down this rant, I have questions and observations for fellow HM’ers:
@Cliff: What was your impression of the Pinis? I was a huge fan of the original Elfquest. But it got really weird. Too hippie-dippie for my taste.
For Mount Geekmore… H.G. Wells, J.R.R. Tolkien, Terry Gilliam, and Tom Baker. Wow… might as well plant that in Sussex.
@Myro: Don’t know your financials, but $200 is a down payment for a new computer. I figure that if I have about 1/3 of the cost for a down payment and can make the monthly payments, it’s worth considering. These days, though, it’s best if you can pay cash upfront.
Finally…
@Jeff: What program do you use for the vector graphics in HeroMachine? I know someone who is fairly decent at manga / anime-style drawing. If I can convince her to go mech, I might have some new material for you to consider. Just want to send it to you in the proper format.
McKnight57 asked:
I’m not sure what you mean by amalgamated. Do you mean fused and turned into one character or … ? And yes, happy to hear your answer 🙂
The Atomic Punk asked:
Everything I do is done in Flash. dblade does his stuff in Illustrator, think, then exports them as EPS files which I then import into Flash and that works well.
@Atomic Punk “but this place and you guys fill a void” I completly agree. Being a dad, I had to give up going and spending hours at the comic store, and HeroMachine gives me and all of us a place we can go to geek out without leaving home. I know that I can come on here, and get a laugh, or get into a debate, or learn somthing about the program, and meet a whole bunch of cool people in the process.
I’m living mine. The comic book fanboy has become a soon-to-be-published writer of superhero fiction. Plus I have all my other work available in ebook format already. I’m being paid to write stuff that I love! How awesome is that?
Jeff (58): Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. Sort of like the Amalgam comics of the 90’s. No cheating, like using any comics already used in the short-lived Amalgam comics. Anyway, mine would be a fusion of Batman and Deadpool. It sort of works, since that is who I based my main character, McKnight on.
My query still stands.
Atomic Punk (57): Yeah, I kind of wanted to get the entire thing paid out all at once, rather than make payments on it. Anyway, I did manage a decent deal on a new Toshiba Sattelite to replace the old one. I ended up paying a little bit more to get one a little closer to state of the art, but I managed to keep it pretty close to budget, so alls well that ends well. Still, a more cynical mind (like my fiancee’s) might be inclined to say that I only put this question up to rationalize buying a new computer anyway. Anyway, once I get everything reinstalled, I should be back in business by tomorrow.
Also, ams (37), you may be pleased to hear that while registering my computer for extended warranty, my friend got to look at the warranty on my old computer. While it turns out that Toshiba does not in fact cover the “accidental damage” on the old unit, London Drugs (drug store giant in Canada that also sellls computers and elctronics for all you non-Canadians out there) is on the hook for the repairs for selling me the extended service plan. So I won’t have to pay for repairs after all. Because I probably wouldn’t have learned this without buying the new computer, and because my fiancee inherits the old one once it’s back from repairs, I’m not hearing about my spending money too much now. 😀
Great to hear, Myro! Now you can get your fiancee on heromachine ,too! (Yeah, I know, shot in the dark….)
Kinda like Vorpal Laugh, my geek dream involves somehow saving some major writer or artist of comics from some horrible fate and in response to “How can I ever repay you?” making them listen to my ideas for comics that I’m too lazy and inept to create. Of course in the dream they think they’re all brilliant ideas. So if anybody sees Neil Gaiman walking out in front of a bus, let me know.
I think Mt. Geekmore, rather than being carved out of a mountain, would be a mountain-sized holographic projection, so the pantheon could be changed from time to time.
As an addendum to Jadebrain’s question up in #2, maybe I misunderstand the issue, but it seems to me that the essential question is what story are you telling; i.e., at the point in time this panel takes place, what is going on to advance the plot? I can’t help but think that the answers will tell you what the character must be up to right then. Of course, a host of other questions arise, like POV, and at what point in time DOES this panel take place, and is that the most dramatic instant possible, and what was the hero just doing and what’ll he do next, but it’s a start. Not to take anything away from your answer, Jeff. Starting is always the best way to get something done. And of course my blather is from the self-confessed
“too lazy and inept to create” guy.
Yeah, what’s Geomatics?
Jeff, do you think a goatee is helpful to an artist? And is too much scalp coverage a detriment?
I once Had had this awesome dream that I was a space marine fighting giant bugs and snakes. I think I may have watched star ship troopers that night (by the way the dream was far better but then again what isnt better then starship troopers?) anyway it was crazy fun. I was like some kinds of super alien bug killing machine. it was very action movie like. Though I didnt get a hot girl at the end. but the dream did set it self up for a sequal which sadly I never got to have.
@Jeff: You know, many people have asked me that. The short version is that Geomatics is the collection of data with regards to Earth Sciences. Basically, I am going to be the person who takes the readings for environmental ventures (more or less). If you want to read more on it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomatics. I can’t wait to start, I am a HUGE earth science geek.