Why the lack of proper updates? Quick explanation- things have been hectic over the last few weeks.

Remember how I was supposed to be on holiday from university from 31st March until the 20th April? Well, that didn’t really happen.

I’m sure I mentioned in a previous blog that I was working on a photo gallery application for a class at uni. Owing to the fact my university insists on using SQL Server 2005, rather than MySql, every time I wanted to make a wee change to my database, I had to go in to uni to do it. I’m not saying that that’s a bad thing- I think working at uni might have made me focus a little more- if I’d been sitting at home it would have been easier to find something to distract me.

There were parts of my site that I really struggled with. There were days I got really frustrated to the point I thought I was going to have some sort of breakdown and wanted to quit it all (no, really).

Just when I thought everything was hunky dory (wait, who uses that expression anymore?), I discovered I’d have to transfer all my work to another server which upset me greatly. Ok, I know that’s not exactly an onerous task but I was worried some part of my site would break. Guess what, part of my site DID break. The mobile part. I was furious (you know, angry to the point I was snapping at people and had a face like thunder……I don’t tend to do the whole yelling thing).

After many (many many) hours of stress, I got everything sorted and finally submitted my final piece of coursework on Friday afternoon.

Have to say, it feels weird now. I guess when you’ve worked on something for so long, it feels odd when you no longer having to think about it*.

*Well, I didn’t HAVE to think about it but, after I handed my work in, I went home for some zzzz’s. It would have been a lovely snooze had I NOT dreamt that my site was totally broken

Mood : tired   Music : Superman Acoustic  by  Joe Brooks

Heard some disappointing news this afternoon…..

As you know, I’m a lover of the Ozy and Millie cartoon series. Normally, I just check the RSS feed to see if there have been any new comics added. Lately, I’ve noticed that the artist and creator of the comics, D.C. Simpson has been taking breaks to prepare to draw the comic and the publication of the new strips are becoming less frequent.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been really busy so I haven’t really checked the main page of the site. I was speaking to Kirsty today and she asked if I had read the news, which I hadn’t at that point. Came home and found D.C. Simpson had written the following on the website-

“I guess I do owe you, my audience, an apology and an explanation for why things have gotten slow around here!

The fact is, it’s been ten years since the strip began as a semi-daily project of mine, and longer than that since I first started working with the characters. I created them when I was 19 years old. I’m 31, now; the characters have been daily features of my life for more than a third of it.

And, I’m a different person and a different artist than I was at the start of it all. It’s been an amazing adventure, being a web cartoonist, and it’s been an honor and privilege getting to write and draw for an audience of tens of thousands for so long. But I do have other things I want to do, and I’ve begun doing some of them, both on and offline.

Quite simply, I’ve been posting strips as often as I’m able to deliver good ones that are up to my standards. The fact that that’s become less often is quite significant.

I don’t think comic strips, or creative projects in general, ought to continue long after the creator has mentally moved on, and it’s always tragic when they do (“Peanuts,” “The Simpsons”). I always said I’d know when it was time for me to move on. I’m afraid that time is fast approaching.

My goals in life and art have evolved over time. “Ozy and Millie” has been like a graduate level course in cartooning. I look forward to applying the things I’ve learned from it to other projects. Of course, even after this ends, you will not have heard the last of me.”

What am I gonna do? Ozy and Millie is my favourite web comic- I just love the humour within it. I totally understand that Simpson wants to go out on a high- I mean, there is just no point to him continuing if his heart is no longer in it.

I wish him good luck with his future endeavours, and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next .

Go on folks, define cynical while you still can.

Mood : sad   Music : Last To Die  by  Bruce Springsteen

Today’s stupid news story comes from the BBC-

Drunk Darth Vader’s Jedi assault

And in case you’re wondering, this actually happened in Britain. Wales to be specific.

Yes, according to this link, people have finally realised just how cool the Mythbusters are.

What can I say in response to this article other than DUH.

If you’re reading this and you still don’t have a clue who/what I’m on about then shame on you. It’s one of the best shows on tv. Now, go point your remote towards the Discovery Channel- 520 for those of you with Sky (or Discovery Science or DMAX…….any one will do).

Mood : stressed   Music : Radar Love  by  Golden Earring

Sorry, but this is totally awesome! Real life “Where’s Wally” (or Waldo if you’re American).

Go see!

Finally, Bones has returned on Sky One *does happy dance*  Anyone else watching this and following the Gormogon case?

*spoilers ahead*

I’m in the UK and Season 3 episode 7 just aired an hour ago (“The Knight On The Grid”).  Is anybody else under the impression that Dr Sweets is actually the Gormogon killer?

Why do I think this?  Well as a character, I find him irritating so that’s strike one.  Strike two- his teeth.  Honestly, have you seen his amazingly pearly white teeth?  Those are cannibal teeth.  Finally, I’m sure it was him that jumped out the wardrobe, ready to attack Porter, wielding  the Dagger that Zack had been analysing (and yeah, I almost jumped at this point because it was a little scary).

On the other hand, Sweets perhaps knew this Porter guy and was playing a really horrible joke?

Hmmmmm…..

To those who watch the show, any thoughts?

Mood : worried   Music : Atlantic City  by  Bruce Springsteen

Have no fear, my blog is not broken. Today, the 9th of April is CSS Naked Day. It’s basically a day promoting the use of web standards and well formed code.

Go on, get rid of your CSS for one day only!

Mood : stressed   Music : Bold As Love  by  Jimi Hendrix

“And so at last the beast fell and the unbelievers rejoiced.
But all was not lost, for from the ash rose a great bird.
The bird gazed down upon the unbelievers and cast fire
and thunder upon them. For the beast had been
reborn with its strength renewed, and the
followers of Mammon cowered in horror.”
-from The Book of Mozilla, 7:15

Well you’ve probably just read that and thought “eh?!”. That’s what I thought when I came across it.

Are you using Firefox (by the way, if the answer to that was no then shame on you)? Enter “about:mozilla” into the navigation bar. It won’t work in IE8 beta, Safari or Opera.

What is it then? A prophecy about the end of the world? Well I guess, in a way it is. The end of the browsing world as the followers of “Mammon” know it.

Still confused? Wikipedia has a nice explanation of the Book of Mozilla

Mood : tired   Music : Burning Love  by  Elvis Presley

So now I’ve been off on break for what, nearly a week now?  What have I been upto?  Well, not much.

Monday was a good day.  I’ve come to realise that I’ve told very few people what actually happened at the beginning of the week.  I need to wait and see what happens (I don’t want to jinx it- I’ve been given something of an opportunity).  Ok, you’re probably sitting there thinking “what the hell is she on about?!”.  Am I right?  You’ll need to wait and see.

The rest of monday was spent at the beach.  I walked miles, and I mean miles.  I think I got some nice shots too.  There’s a shot of one particular area which I’m planning on entering into the village calendar competition.  I’m not sure if it even stands a chance to be perfectly honest.  Then again, what do I know.  Last year I submitted a picture which I didn’t particularly like and ended up winning a place in the calendar.  Speaking of which, it’s April now- the month which my picture represents.

Aside from that, I’ve not done too much else.

I’m desperately trying to get a proper start on a law essay.  Basically, I’ve been given two different case studies and it’s my job to argue the cases.  I just can’t seem to stay focused and I don’t know why.  At least I have a plan laid out for the first study and I’d really like to get that all typed up by Monday…….we shall see.

Really, why can’t law be like the type of law portrayed in “Ally McBeal”?  Why do I have to attend the classes?  Why can’t I just dance around in the toilets to the imaginary voice Barry White in my head?

Least once I’ve done this essay, I’m back to studying Computing and Computing only.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with a shot of the waterfall on the beach (took this on Monday)-

Mood : awake   Music : Summer of '69  by  Bryan Adams

I know they’ve been rambling on about Global Warming and whatnot on the news recently.  Personally, I’m not sure I believe in all the hype- the whole issue seems more like a political tool.

Anyway, to the point of my post.  What the hell is going on with the weather?!

On Monday, I was at the beach- gorgeous day, not too hot.  In fact it was a little breezy on the shore.  Roasting on the reserve though.  On Thursday, it was 20 degrees celcius in sheltered areas- nice huh?  Today- well, I don’t know what temperature it is but there have been snow showers on and off all day.

Nice.

Mood : blah   Music : Tell Me Where It Hurts  by  Garbage