Coloring Time

Recently I've been teaching myself the vector graphic capabilities of Photoshop CS2. Here is the first colored sketch. I kept it nice and simple and chose not to try a bunch of color shading. I'll work on that next. But I feel pretty good about the result.



I've been in New York for the last few days visiting the family. I'm having a blast. Looks like I finished the coloring just in time as the sun is just starting to come out. I appear to be having an allergic reaction to something because my right sinus is good and runny. It's not too bad, but as usual, we're all waiting on Megan to come back with some medicine. She's taking her sweet time.

Beer and sun are calling. I will not disappoint them.

Truck Troubles

As some of you may know, my 1990 Toyota pickup doesn't like me. Or at least the 22re engine doesn't. Last year I ran out of gas because there is no idiot light. I was poor and wanted to wait as long as I could before filling it up again. Bad call. The truck hasn't run properly since. Early on the problem manifested itself as a cooling issue and I was actually able drive it to New York and back without any apparent problem. But, a some point the cylinder head cracked. Once winter let up, I replaced the cylinder head only to have the new head gasket blow right away. After putting on another gasket, it still doesn't want to run right and is continuing to overheat. I can't figure it out, so I'm having a pro look it over right now.

Recently, with all the truck trouble getting me down, I've been watching a lot of World Rally Championship (WRC) on YouTube. That got me thinking: 1) I want a rally car, but 2) I want to rally the truck. Not in the WRC way, but in a Paris-Dakar or Baja 1000 fashion. Rather than trying to win anything, I'd just like to run either race and put the truck to the test. I may be fantasizing here, but right now I need fantasy to keep me motivated on getting this thing fixed.

I want to keep the truck after I finish school, because as I see it, spending even $2000 to rebuild the engine would be money well spent. I've only ever owned $2000 cars, and they all have problems. I could spend the money on a new $2000 car, but it's going to need work. Why not just put the money into the truck and have it run great for another 100,000 miles?

Previously, I've always demanded that any car I own have all the power options and a sunroof, but having a bone-stock, no options truck has been liberating. I don't have to worry about non-essential options kicking the bucket and costing an arm and a leg to fix. I don't even have power steering. Where's the benefit in that? I don't have to worry about power steering fluid. One less thing. I don't mean to get all philosophical, but when it comes to cars, I'm starting to believe that simple is beautiful. That of course only has limited application when it comes to racing. For a rally, you better believe that I want power steering, an F1-style sequential gearbox with paddle sifting, and outrageously expensive suspension. Half the fun of a rally would be preparing the truck.



Update: I was just about to post this when the mechanic called and said the only thing he found wrong with it was an air bubble in the cooling system. Once that was out the truck drove fine and didn't overheat. Sweet deal right? Wrong! On my way home it started overheating. I went back, and as we sat there talking about it, it stopped overheating. Hun. Well, we thought, maybe there was another air bubble. But as I got back in I spotted coolant underneath my pedals. "There you go," he says. "Heater core." I've got the dash completely ripped out and am hoping there's a new heater core in town. This is the last thing in the heating system that's not new, so this better do it. Oh, and everything else is in good shape. The new head gasket is holding solid and my oil is clear and coolant free. So, that part is pretty fresh.

I'm Ba-ack!

[When you read the title, you should think about Randy Quaid flying into the alien ship in Independence Day.]

Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. I know that's what everyone must be saying. My response: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been busy. I just recycled a nearly three inch stack of paper which was my reading for the semester. I finished my last final at 9:30 am this morning and couldn't feel better. As some of you may know, about halfway through the semester I began to question whether the degree was worth it. This was because all the jobs for a student of economics I was seeing were not anything I really wanted to do. But, family being family, they helped me to understand that this degree is going to open many doors and not all of them in economics. So I kept at it and am happy to say that I finished strong. I thinking something like two A's and a B. We'll see.

While reading academic paper after academic paper, the blog was always on the back of my mind. I've recently been following the blog of professional bmx rider Taj Mahelich, called Fairdale. Fairdale is made up mostly of his cartoons, funny stories and the occasional iPod-compatible wiener dog boom box. I realized I had plenty of good drawings in the Moleskin and so I plan to start posting some up. Taj's work is more finished and colorful, but these are drawings (doodles) that were largely made while waiting. If I get adventurous, I'll dig out some of the old class notebooks. Lord knows what's in those. So, here is the first doodle. I figured being an economist in training, a market based doodle is the most appropriate first post.


Having been a student for as long as I can remember, and interested in drawing since since at least the fourth grade, I've noticed that my best drawing work generally occurs in the margins. Even in the Moleskin, most of the best stuff is wedged in around writing. If I have a large page in front of me, I have no idea what to do with it. But, if confined to a small space, I don't have any trouble putting a pen or pencil to the page. I don't worry about what I draw. I just let it come out. When working with a full page I feel like I have to make it good. If I don't, I wasted not only time but a good sheet of paper. An artist in Eugene named Rose told me that it was a matter of teaching my arm to draw. Right now I'm only drawing with my hand, but if I want to move my drawing to larger media I need to teach my arm what my hand already knows. I need to make a full page a confining space.

I mentioned that I can get the feeling while drawing that I'm wasting time. Teaching my arm to draw is a simple mechanical problem, but not getting restless in a seat is a more difficult problem. It may be the carpenter in me, but if I'm not out sawing, turning a wrench, or even riding the bmx bike, I get the feeling that I'm not doing anything productive. The funny thing is that, for the most part, I don't get this feeling when writing a paper or doing work for class. It's really when I'm doing my own thing that I start to feel wasteful. I also get this feeling while writing my own stories, or working on a photo in the computer. I have to ask: Why only when I'm doing my own thing? The feeling is worse during the daylight hours, which makes sense. But it happens even during rainy days when going outside is the last thing that I want to do. In fact, on rainy days, I often get the distinct feeling that I should be taking pictures. So when I try to draw or write, I can't shake the feeling that the more productive use of my time would be making photographs. Problem is there isn't usually jack to photograph in my little apartment. The best use of my time then, one would think, would be writing or drawing. Instead I end up hobbling together some picture of one of my broken chairs that's just not that good.

Is it all self-doubt? Is it just a longing to be out in the shop or outdoors? I don't know. One idea is to recognize that I'm like a moth and when the sun's out I just have to get closer to that light. If I want to draw or write, I'd likely have the best luck doing it at night. The last trick will be to not let myself veg in front of the computer now that I have more Kids in the Hall episodes than I can shake a stick at. If I can work through all this and start producing some good stuff, you guys will be the first to see it.

Cheers.