Suffering for My Art

In the past year since I got my computer, I have done multiple assignments for my year of online graduate school, include two major papers.  I have downloaded over a dozen PDFs of books I had been wanting, including two where the download came free with the actual physical book.  I have played multiple games, including over two thousand rounds of solitaire.  I have been posting pictures and movies I have made with my computer.  I have joined some online groups, and even posted in a few of them when I felt that I had a pertinent point to make.  I have even posted in a forum.  However the one major thing I have left to do is make actual "art."  Sure, I have written the basic framework for an entire book, but I started that before I got this computer.  I've messed around with the basic graphic functions of Pages, Mac's word processing app, but I haven't actually made any artwork.  Back when I was in high school, many years ago, I was able to goof around with the school's Mac, which had a dedicated art program installed.  Wouldn't you know that Apple would drop such an app just before I would finally get mine.  This has bugged me from the start.  I have looked on the App Store for free art apps, but I am still unsure which one would be the best for me.  Some of the reviews I've seen have not been that kind.  Other apps are "free" for awhile, but I would either have to pay for premium services.  One even has a free trial, but it might stop working after the trial ends, and where would I be then.  My best chance is to wait until I update my Mac to the Catalina OP.  When that happens, I just might be able to gain access to new apps, ones that started on Apple's mobile devices. Sure, I don't have an iPhone or iPad yet, but I still might be able to get an app that still works.  Once I get a great art app, there is so much I could do.  I could finally get a logo for my blogs.  I have tried multiple times to get a perfectly square logo, but my screenshots wind up being a pixel off from true square.  I might be able to do better with the right app.  I have been thinking about creating my own supplements for the RPGs I like.  While there is already ready-to-use artwork for such endeavors, being able to add some extra touches would help me make such projects my own.  You know, give it some pizzazz.  Anyway, I just like creating things.  Look at some of my movies on YouTube or Facebook.  They are of me making logos for my store Booknotes. It is just dry erase markers on a white board, but the possibilities are greater than one would think of.  Just imagine what I could do digitally, if I just had the right setup.  So, I am still looking for recommendations for the best app for me.  I mean, just look at what I've done just with the Blogger capabilities. It is supposed to be a jack-o-lantern, but it might not transpose correctly when posted.  At least the puzzle in red will still work.  Can you figure out which one is missing? (I've previewed the page.  It doesn't look right.  Should and have cut and pasted it.)

Once a Brony, Always a Brony

As I have hinted at a few times here, I am a somewhat casual fan of My Little Pony:  Friendship Is Magic.  I don't collect the toys.  I have only looked at the comic books, never have bought any.  Pretty much just interested in the cartoon.  Because of this, one could call me a 'brony,' a male fan of the series, particularly one who is beyond the typical age range of the cartoon.  Over the weekend, the series finale aired multiple times.  I have to admit, I cried a little when it ended.  It wasn't perfect.  The first hour was all about the season's villains made their attack and how the 'Mane 6' dealt with them.  The surprise twist about how they got together was enjoyable.  However, the fact that they weren't redeemed by friendship, even just a little, unlike pretty much every other villain during the run, kind of broke with the series's overall themes.  The final half hour was a flash forward to the future showing how the cast turned out.  While many facets were glossed over, the few that were revealed were very telling.  Pinkie Pie was the only one who was shown to be married and with a child.  Considering she has three sisters and a presumed husband, who was shown a bit later on, I'm surprised she couldn't find a babysitter, unless her kid has a reputation similar to Pinkie's.  Yeah, Rainbow Dash and Applejack don't seem to have children 😉, and Fluttershy seems to be in a relationship with Discord that could prevent her from having kids, but there's no reason to presume that Twilight and Rarity don't have kids.  Both could easily get sitters.  Rainbow Dash appears to be a general in the Wonder Bolts, semi-retired perhaps.  Applejack still works on the farm, being an aunt to Big Mac's family.  Couldn't tell if they had more than one kid though.  I only saw one, but there were a bunch of four-legged things in the background.  Rarity has even more boutiques, more non-pony creatures, with two of the former friendship students running the Ponyville shop.  As mentioned, Fluttershy is still friends with Discord, who helps her run the reserve. At least they have all of Angel's, the rabbit, descendants to deal with.  Starlight Glimmer is still running the school, with Sunburst.  The Cutie Mark Crusaders are teaching there, along with a few other former students.  Some of the information I saw online hinted that Flurryheart was seen, but I didn't notice her during any of the times I watched.  Many other fan-favorite characters were glimpsed, but there were a few more that could have shown up.  All in all, I liked it.  I only started watching with the fourth season, when Discovery Family, then known as The Hub, got added to my channel lineup.  At first, I just wanted to see what all of the fuss was about.  I had been hearing about the show for awhile, from some of my overlapping interests, and decided to check it out.  I got hooked.  Somehow, I got to see all of the previous seasons (I think) on reruns.I knew about the original show from the 80s, but this one was better.  The plots were more dramatic, especially when compared to many of the "boy" cartoons out at the time.  There was also the friendship quotient.  Just like the 'Mane 6,' I had always felt/wanted to have some friends to rely on for years.  That never happened.  I tried, but it fell apart, possibly on my end, maybe on theirs.  Maybe it was too little too late.  It takes me a long time to feel comfortable around someone to open up and try to become a friend, probably due to issues when I was a young boy.  For various reasons, I never made any friends in college.  I never had a job, so no work friends.  I never had to chance to go out, so I was never in a situation to find friends elsewhere.  I guess I started watching because it gave me a chance to feel that 'magic of friendship' that was missing in my life for so long.  This was just a year or two before I joined social media and began to reconnect to the world.  As I have mentioned, I am very immature for my age at times.  Thank you ponies for everything! You helped me out, even if I am not your average fan.

I Still Want My MTV, and My Other Viacom Channels

One morning last week, I decided to watch something besides the regular news and weather.  That is when I found out that my cable provider had dropped a bunch of channels.  In fact, they had dropped those channels a few days earlier, and I only realized it that morning.  In all fairness, I had been overly tired those last few mornings, and I had been in no shape to watch much else until that morning.  Also, I usually only watch the dropped channels on weekends and occasionally at night, so I hadn't known before that morning about the drop.  I double-checked the last cable bill, but if there had been a notice, it had been thrown out without any regard.  I only knew for sure about the dropping when I checked the provider website.  How could I have missed out on such important news?  In one fell swoop, I had lost at least six channels.  Okay, I hadn't been watching all of them that often.  With almost one hundred regular channels as well as their HD equivalents, plus a few HD only selections, there is no way I could watch all of them.  I barely go through two dozen or so of them on any sort of regular basis.  I never watched the country music video channel from Viacom, except on some very rare occasions.  I still have another one, so I am not sure which was which.  The same goes for most of the channels that got dropped.  I stopped watching VH1 when it stopped playing music videos.  The same holds true for MTV.  The last time I truly watched it was during the VMAs, and I didn't even watch all of it then.  I kept trying to watch Comedy Central, but I kept forgetting to.  Too late now.  In fact, the only Viacom channel that I watching frequently was Nickelodeon.  What can I say; I'm immature for my age.  I actually liked many of the shows, even if they are targeted towards children, and I am not, nor do I have, one.  Sure, I could theoretically stream them, if I was exactly sure how that goes.  And, if I didn't have to pay for that privilege.  Seriously, I will not pay for something that used to be part of my regular package.  I am still learning about online services over a year after getting my computer.  Yes, my cable bill will go down slightly, at least for on month.  Now, I have a bunch of new channels, none of which look all that interesting.  The worst thing is that not all of the dropped channels have yet to be replaced.  There are gaps in the listings that go beyond the ones that were already there.  This weekend was so dull at times without my regular viewings. I would much prefer having to pay the higher rates my provider would have passed on than the current conditions.  Weird, but true.  But what can I do?  It seems like I lose another one of my favorite things every few months, usually without any fanfare. If I had just a little bit of notice, but I had been too distracted to do anything until it was too late.

The Thirty-one Delights of Halloween

I have decided to do something special this year for Halloween, basically for the entire month of October.  I am going to try to get back to my root interests and exploring them for the entire month.  This is doubly fortunate as many of my interests fit perfectly into this month.  First off, I will finally read a very long backlog of books on the supernatural that I had been getting, but was too buy to actually read.  That starts next Monday.  I was just so busy with other things, such as school, that I just put them off.  That goes for the fourteen role-playing game PDFs that I have so far gotten this year.  I've been speed-reading/skimming them for a few months now, but I just started to actually try reading one of the newest batch.  This is part of the second phase of the month.  I was fortunate enough to buy one of the newer physical books that somehow got released earlier this year and I missed it.  I'm hoping to get the other book that came out with my next book order.  Fifty dollars retail is lot to shell out, but at least the PDF is free, if the technical issues have been worked out.  I haven't tried to download the last one yet.  Next for the month, I plan on writing in my literary blog again.  I'm thinking of starting a horror type short story and try to finish it before Halloween.  Another thing I'm planning is possibly start posting my ideas for in-game content.  It turns out that I could actually get paid for creating such stuff, if I ever get the confidence to post it for sale.  That part scares me, but it could open the door for freelance work, or even a job.  I am hoping to read actual books, too.  I'm going through the local libraries to get some newer books, as well as trying to sneak some latter books in series I've just started to read or had been waiting to finish up.  I'm serous into a few series, mostly fantasy but there are a few mysteries as well (I must admit that there are supernatural elements to them.). Okay, some of the series are aimed at kids, but I still like them.  Just because I'm an English major doesn't mean I don't like enjoying what I read, especially with the complicated nature of my further education.  Next to last, I will be trying to catch up on a few weirder television shows that will be returning.  There are so many shows that I am kind of interested in, but I always forget to watch them, especially when their time slots change.  Give me a standardized schedule of the haphazard designs currently favored.  Lastly, there is the actual plans for Halloween.  I have already decorated my store, Booknotes, in its traditional mash up of styles.  I don't decorate at home.  In three weeks, I will be picking out this year's selection of candy.  I used to get blends that favored my likes of fruit-flavored candies, but I have cut way back on the sweets I the past few years, so I get smaller bags leaning more towards chocolate.  That way, fewer pieces left over to tempt me.  Of course, the first step is to announce these plans on my blog here, even if it is a day earlier than usual.

Maybe I Can Drive My Car

Within the next few weeks, I will hopefully have a new car.  There's still a chance that I won't, but considering the shape of my current, I hope not.  I've been seriously looking for the past few months. Okay, it is ac tally closer to a year or two.  What can I say, I have very strict standards. It only took two weeks to get my first car, but that was when I needed one almost immediately.  I had two dealerships competing to get me the exact model I wanted.  It could have ben the exact same one.  I loved that car, even with all the problems I had with it.  I had the bumper smashed by unknown means within a year or so.  One of the manual windows developed a problem, and it had to be fixed so that it could work.  I had a two-door, so the windows had to lower.  The main problem was with the computer.  All of a sudden, my car wouldn't start properly.  When they thought they had the problem fixed, I tried driving it off the lot.  The engine would die on me every few dozen yards.  I had to start it back up multiple times to get to where my mother was waiting and then find a way to get it towed back to the dealership for the problem to actually be fixed.  When I finally decided on my second car, after a month or so of looking, I was driving it to my store before picking up the new one.  About a mile or two from the store, the break failure light came on.  Fortunately, they brakes worked well enough to get to the store.  Unfortunately, my mother had to drive the car to the dealership to get it the breaks fixed, and she would up being the first one to drive my new car.  I never could feel as comfortable with that car because of that.  What's worse, we wound up paying for the repairs, instead of the man we were selling the old one too, even though he had offered to do so.  That car would have its fair share of problems too.  At least two of the power windows would tear up.  It was a four-door, so there were more windows to have problems.  I hydroplaned down a hill and into a lawn ornament, causing damage to the rear bumper, because someone was watering their lawn and it ran onto the road.  Took forever to get it fixed, as well as figuring out a way to get to work while waiting for it to be repaired.  At least it was still in working order when I finally got a new car, from a different dealership, although they were a little angry when I forgot to mention that accident.  My current car has had quite a few problems, as well.  I've kept it two years longer than my previous ones.  It's just so hard finding something I like and afford that also has the exact features I need.  Don't get me wrong, I do like my current car, even though I could never get the headrest to fit me properly.  The windshield had to be replaced, twice.  The transmission failed for no discernible reason.  The brake pads have had to be replaced more often than in my other cars.  The battery had to be replaced rather frequently.  The heating/cooling system has had multiple random failures, including having a motor whir at odd times and near constant clicking whenever certain doors are opened, for about thirty seconds.  The tire pressure monitors keep failing.  Once, a monitor said a tire was flat, even when it wasn't.  While driving to a garage to have the tire checked, the monitor went from flat to full pressure to even higher and everything in between.  During a recent opportunity for an OnStar free trial, I found out that the antenna was broken, and I would be unable to start the service. Oh, one of the windows recently had to be fixed so that it would stay up.  There is so much going wrong with my car, that I won't be able to get a new one if I have all of the current problems fixed.  I need a new car.

What Not to Read about What to Watch

It the time of year again for a new season of television shows to debut.  In concert with the new season, some entertainment magazines offer previews about said season.  Usually, this is a quite thorough affair.  However, this year, it is anything but.  First up, TV Guide offered up its preview of new series.  Unlike previous years they organized the series by genre instead of by day.  I feel that this makes it more difficult to judge if a new series should be watched, as having to keep track of when a new show is coming on without a way to compare it to times for other series is complicated.  At least they returned to having a neutral cover again, instead of focusing on one series or having a collage of multiple shows or stars.  Most new network shows were featured, with other new series were mentioned in a calendar at the end or the feature.  Unfortunately, there wasn't any program grid either to help organize network information.  Two weeks later, the mag came out with its returning show guide.  This time, the cover focused on NCIS.  As it is a top-rated scripted program, one with a cliffhanger featuring the return of a presumed dead character, it made sense.  This time around, the shows were organized by day.  This format was much easier to read and comprehend.  Still no day-to-day grid for network programming though. Some cable and streaming shows were also mentioned, even though much of the latter do not have a standardized start day.  In comparison, Entertainment Monthly, make that Weekly, also has its fall television preview issue out.  For the least few years, it had dedicated the entire issue to the new season, giving each new and returning scripted series, and a few reality series, at least a brief synopsis for a new show or a recap for a returning show.  Not this time.  Not only did the preview not take over the entire issue, but not even each show was featured.  The main cover was dedicated to the new Jennifer Anniston vehicle The Morning Show, which will debut on Apple's new streaming service later this year (Disclaimer:  As I have mentioned previously, I own a Mac.  I will probably be getting some form of this service as part of the next upgrade in OS, probably with a free trial if not more.  I have yet to watch or pay for any streaming service, and I do not intend to start anytime soon.). In fact, the start of the article focused on streaming shows, as well as the new streaming services set to debut.  The rest of the article went in the standard daily format, with one new or returning series getting top-billing and other shows following suit.  However, not even half of the network and cable shows deserved to be mentioned.  The overwhelming majority were delegated to a calendar of start dates at the end of the feature.  A few had a brief comment with them, but that was it.  Friday (and Saturday, they combined the two) only had one show, out of the nine or so featured those days on the networks.  At least each day had a show from a different network featured.  The most obvious difference between these two magazines is that the series featured on the cover of one is only given a mention in the calendar of the other.  The audience for the two mags, as well as the reporters, are so far apart that what's important to one is not so important to the interests of the other.  I would have thought that there would be some greater overlap between them, and TV Guide will probably cover The Morning Show closer to its debut, but I still feel slighted.  My own tastes in television falls somewhere between these two extremes.  I am still disgusted about EW's change in publication. Maybe it's just the me and my lack of wanting to do my watching (and reading about watching) online.  I barely know when my favorite shows will be airing this fall.  Many have new times.  I am not sure if there are any new shows that I would want to watch.  I have a little more time to decide these things, but I still am not sure about what I will do.  I will see, I mean watch.

The Emoji Television Show!

I have been a long-time reader, and solver, of what is now called Games World of Puzzles magazine.  Since grade school, in fact.  While I admit to getting the occasional other non-related puzzle magazine, Games had remained the favorite.  Mostly it is the articles.  Sure, I love the puzzles, but I usually only solve a little less than half of them.  Sure, I look at them, but I only solve those that I like.  Well, earlier this year, Games has featured a new variety of puzzle based on emojis.  Readers are given a string of emojis and have to figure out what they mean.  The two puzzles dealt with book and film titles respectively.  I admit that I am not that good at "emoji speak" yet.  I am still getting the ins and outs of such things.  However, I have come up with my own version of this puzzle based on television shows.  Below are a series of emojis.  Each one represents a television show that has had new episodes within the past year.  Your job is to figure out what each one is.  Answers appear beneath the puzzle, so don't scroll down too far until you are finished.  Good luck! 👍
(I'm sorry if the picture isn't quite right.  I worked out the puzzle in Pages and took a screenshot, before transferring it here as an image.  I wasn't sure I could get the range of emojis I needed here, and at the proper size.)