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Scott (not Kolchak) the Night Stalker

Published by Scott Story on August 19, 2018
Greeting, Friends, Countrymen, Blah . . . Today’s theme is printers. One of mine won’t work, and the large format one keeps jamming up. Bah. Plus, I’m told that cartridges aren’t made anymore for my old photocopier.  Double Bah. This week I have gained a great deal of proficiency and training in the most unfriendly of all apps (or so I’m told), Blender 2.79. I like it. You can do anything in it, and by anything I mean really make 3D art, 2D and 3D animation, edit movies, SFX for movies, and so much more that I will never mess with. I thought Google Sketchup was cool, and it was for a 3D learning tool, but Blender is 100% more robust and multifeatured. Anyway, here is a bodysuit in progress that I’ve been working on this week, complete modeled by me, not based off anyone else’s mesh.
All I see is the imperfections, and yes there are many, but I’m learning as I go. Topology, modifiers, UV unwrapping, and so forth. Once I get it to an acceptable condition, this will be the base suit that I modify as remake as all the Spire City characters’ uniforms. I have not checked into the options that paid programs like ZBrush off, but that’s so I won’t cry alligator tears of frustration. (On an unrelated note, I’m using this new WordPress Pluging Gutenburg, and so far I like it.) Ten Things You Might Not Know About Me:
  1. My cats are like my kids. I love them. I’m crazy about animals in general, but cats are extra special to me.
  2. Despite having spent much of my professional life as an illustrator, I did not go to art school. I took oil painting lessons a couple of times in my teens, and I went to Saturday classes at the Heron School of Art for three years while I was in high school. All the rest is self-taught.
  3. I wrote and drew my first picture book when I was 6 years old. I still have it.
  4. My college degree was in History, with a minor in Creative Writing. While I did not go on to teach, my History degree did get me a job as a Real Estate Title Searcher, which I did for about fifteen years.
  5. While my dad owned a motorcycle shop, and I worked a couple of years as a motorcycle mechanic, I have never owned a motorcycle. I rode many in a casual, non-competitive way, mostly because they were around and readily available.
  6. I did not pick up a guitar and begin to learn how to play until I was 24. Before that, I had absolutely no musical experience. I eventually got pretty good, but it took years of playing.
  7. I saw the original Star Trek when it was in its original run on regular television, and it is the first show I ever remember seeing. I saw the first Star Wars movie in 1977 when it was in the theaters, when it was still a big deal. I have spent my life as more a Star Trek fan. Not an uber fan, but someone who really enjoyed the assorted series. I have not seen any of the Star Wars movies made in recent years, but I wouldn’t rule it out. I dislike the JJ Abram’s Star Trek movie with a passion, and have only seen the first one. That was enough.
  8. I have never been able to make up my mind whether I’m more a writer or an artist. I guess I’m different things to different people. Shoot, I’m different things at different times! This used to bother me, but I’m becoming more accepting of myself as time goes on. I cannot even consider quitting either of them. I quit writing prose from age 30 to 45, but now it is a cherished and integral part of my life.
  9. I wear white socks with tennis shoes. Guilty as charged. When I was growing up the idea of dark socks with shorts or tennis shoes was a horror. It was so dorky!  Now that I think about it, I don’t remember many people wearing knee-high socks either, the type that basketball players wear. Anyway, everybody that apes the current retro style of dark socks looks unbelievably dorky to me.
  10. I’m a very active sleeper, because that standard sleep paralysis that comes with being asleep–I don’t have it. I’ve tossed myself out of bed more often than you might imagine, and once even broke a large piece of glass near my bed when I did it. It’s irritating, yes.
  11. BONUS! I don’t follow any sports teams. I have never watched a full football game. The only live games I have attended were basketball and hockey. I have an almost profound lack of interest in sports, teams, fantasy sports, players, and such. Mention a team or player, and try to make small talk with me about sports, and I will answer with uninterested silence till you give up.
  12. DOUBLE BONUS! I don’t know how to play cards (any card game, really), I suck at chess, and I never knew how to play Rock Paper Scissors until last year. I guess I’ve been deprived and didn’t even know it. 🙂
PS: As of this blog entry, I’m turning commenting back on. We will see how that goes.
Scott Story
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