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Wednesday 18 January 2006

利己主義

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed...


I'm not good, because I haven't been doing my assignments (I sense another episode of assignment 1 coming)... However, I was still rewarded... Was lazing around practicing some song when Chris, designer of Memoir, called me... She said Memoir has been put on hold indefinately, but need me to help on something else... Another client of hers wants to change their host, and needs to migrate everything over to the new server... She asked me something about DNS, nameservers and other technical stuff that I've never dealt with before... In the end it's just a simple downloading of the old website and upload to the new one... For that I was paid $50, how nice...

Just got a sms, this Sunday's show is cancelled... Seems like my dream won't be fulfilled so soon after all...

My layout has been reverted back to the old one, for now that is the only one that works without any problems... I'll be thinking up new designs whenever I have the time, so no more drawings until I'm done with this...

Monday 16 January 2006

改變

Only the wisest and the stupidest of men never change...


Just did the new symbol in school and decided to use it for the background... This is a shape seen in a manga magazine when I was in a Japanese restaurant with Ben and Weida last Saturday... I thought it was quite cool, so I took a picture of it... With my original layout, the picture looks very wierd, so I had to change the layout as well... Expanded the width of the entries so that you won't have to scroll too much...

Did all of this while waiting for our performance's video to finish rendering... Not sure on how to use Adobe Premiere yet, so I'm still playing around with it...

Still no idea what other songs I'm gonna choose, the only one that is decided is 你牽走我的心...

Just realized this layout does not work on 1024 x 768 screen (and it looks so nice on my screen...), haiz... back to the drawing board... Talking about drawing board, I wish I had one, then I wouldn't sprain my neck while drawing...

Edit: Changed the layout to look nicer on 1024 x 768 then my resolution... :( What to do, 80% of my audience uses that resolution... Gonna try to make it look nice on both places...

Edit2: Damn!!! My brother crashed my computer when the video almost finished rendering!!! Now I'll have to start all over again...

Sunday 15 January 2006

建設性

An important trait of the great ones is constructive laziness, they know that you get an A not for effort but for results...


On a weekday without worries about the next assignment, I could have been playing games or going out, but I did not... Instead, I started work on some other things I had to do... First up was the clan flag for my clan in NewAge, it is just a simple flag, but it is the doing part that is an achievement for me...

Next was the website for urban Foundry, I managed to update several products and made some changes to the logic of the site... The boss keeps expecting me to produce some updates, but he doesn't give me enough materials to update... Damn irritating, hope to get this over and done with soon...

Now's the time for some relaxation, was installing another game while typing this... When I'm sick of that, I'll continue on the video clips of our previous performance...

Friday 13 January 2006

搞定

A man is not finished when he's defeated; he's finished when he quits...


Finally finished my assignment 1, printed and handed over to my friend so that he will courier it together with his... Since my momentum is still there, I better start on my assignment 2 which is due 3rd of next month... Seems like this year's Friday the 13th isn't that bad, or maybe I shouldn't speak too early... Who knows later he might call me and tell me he dropped everything into the water...

Now that I'm not rushing for anything, I'll be free to go anywhere; those that tried to get me out last few days can try again now... A few months ago, I said I wanted to do a rerecording of the song: 你牽走我的心 (You took my heart away), I've kept pushing this off as there is no motivation for me to do it... Now I think I've found the reason to do it... Esprimere has an upcoming performance on March and we were told to each prepare 3 solo songs: a fast one, a slow one and one that has a different style from what we would normally sing... I'll be choosing 你牽走我的心 for the slow one and the fast one would most probably be 著迷... So what should I choose for the one that has a different style from what I usually sing, any suggestions?

Almost forgot one important thing, I'll be performing at Indochine on the 22nd of this month... I've always been wondering when I'll be able to perform at that kind of place, never thought it would be so soon... Not sure what kind of music we'll be playing though, seems like it's not something we've played before... Will update again when I know more details... I've been kept out of the loop of things happening in the band, is this a good or a bad thing? Maybe this is a good time for me to step down, pass my post over to another person and just be an ordinary member?

Monday 9 January 2006

りりむキッス

Lilim Kiss


My first work of the new year, a character from the Lilim Kiss manga, Lilim herself... Lilim is actually a demon that sucks the energy of young men in their dreams... In return, she gives them a dream to die for... This explains the wings and the "costume" (she was wearing a bit more throughout the manga)...

IMG_Lilim - Lilim Kiss
Lilim - Lilim Kiss

This is one of the drawings that I spent the most time shading... Previously, the shading is only to indicate different colours, like the one I use at the top of the side bar... Actually that one was shaded using photoshop, but it's just an example... Those kind of shading do not require much skill, as I just need to apply a uniform coat of carbon throughout each area... For this drawing, I had to think which parts are higher, thus attracting more light, and which parts are hidden from light... After which, the most difficult part of it all is to make the character 3-dimensional... It is not easy to try and illustrate convexities, expecially those (ahem...) curvatures... I couldn't say I did a good job out of it, as the arms look very messy... Maybe it's because I wasn't concentrating on them when I was shading...

You all must be wondering why I drew this picture... Well, it just looks picture perfect when I saw it, don't you think so? That is the only reason why I drew this, not because of some wierd interests... The parts I like most are those spokes in the background, and the underwear (it's not what you think, it's the ornament that makes it special)...

The characters I draw in the future will never wear anything lesser than this, unless it's artistically censored... Maybe I shouldn't even consider that... Oh well, I've already got my next drawing in mind... This time, the challenge would be to bring out the feelings of the character...

Wednesday 4 January 2006

新年

A fresh start...


It's a new year now, having to write 06 for the year needs some time for adjustment... In these recent years, I've started to dread every new year... Maybe it's because my exam period is always around this time, or maybe it's because I'm getting older... I'm not afraid of what age will do to my appearance, but rather the responsibilities that comes with age... I do not look like my age, neither do I act my age, I do not wish to grow up for I am unable to see any glimpse of light in my future... Days pass by with apprehension, the number this year would be 24 and it had just been a few months since I turned 23...

Why is Mr. Optimistic so pessimistic today? That's because my assignments are supposed to be in yesterday, and here I am not a single word written... Even the sky seems darker these days, why does it rain so much?

Everything will be fine after I hand in my assignments... Sorry Ben, this is the reason I'm unable to tell you when I can go to Sim Lim Square with you... Anyway, I don't really remember much about past technologies... If you have to ask me, I'll have to search through Hardware Zone, so why don't you read though the articles and we'll discuss it to refresh my memory...

That's it for now, I'll have to send the assignments direct to London by courier before 15th... The good part is there'll be 3 other people sharing the costs... Hmm... I shouldn't be happy over such things...