It's official, folks! My new blog is running full steam ahead. Due to how easy it is to upload and post artwork there, I will be sharing my adventures on tumblr from now on instead of Blogger... at least for now. Don't worry though, this blog isn't going anywhere. Greenseth.com no longer directs my website visitors here, but I have a feeling this version of the PojBlog will be alive and well for a long time to come.
For all posts June 9th, 2011 and newer (aside from this one, of course) visit my tumblr account.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Moving on?
Shortly after my previous post, I was unwittingly lured into tumblr where I accidentally made a blog and posted things in it. It was an accident, I swear.
Here it is: PojBlog, tumblr style
Everything is so simple to manage in the tumblr world that I think I may give it an extended test run. I am not going to officially "retire" this blog yet, but there is a very good chance it will cease my main source of news and updates. If this is confirmed to be the case, I will change the links on my website to point toward my new blog instead of this one.
See you there!
Here it is: PojBlog, tumblr style
Everything is so simple to manage in the tumblr world that I think I may give it an extended test run. I am not going to officially "retire" this blog yet, but there is a very good chance it will cease my main source of news and updates. If this is confirmed to be the case, I will change the links on my website to point toward my new blog instead of this one.
See you there!
Celebrities must do nothing but tweet
I am convinced that celebrities must be glued to their phones and laptops all day just tweeting away, because it seems like all of the celebrities I follow bestow a tweet upon the public once every 30 seconds or so. How does that work? Do they all have un-sleeping writers that do the tweeting for them? Are the wit-generating portions of their brain wired directly into a iPhone? However it works, I'm sure there's a very glamorous explanation. For now, I suppose I will have to live with the drudgery of performing my OWN tweet feats without the aid of writers or telepathic wifi. Good news for you, though! My own laboriously produced twitter litter is now right over here somewhere, emblazoned upon this blog for all passers-by to indulge upon. ----->
To change the subject - I totally reworked the Illustrations portion of my website and trimmed it down to what I consider to be only my 14 absolute best pieces. I created a flurry of new work last week and only a couple of the new pieces made the cut, but luckily you can still check out more or less my entire gallery of work on deviantART. I would especially like to highlight this piece:
Ski Free or Die Trying by *Poj5 on deviantART
Scariest video game villain of all time, guys!
To change the subject - I totally reworked the Illustrations portion of my website and trimmed it down to what I consider to be only my 14 absolute best pieces. I created a flurry of new work last week and only a couple of the new pieces made the cut, but luckily you can still check out more or less my entire gallery of work on deviantART. I would especially like to highlight this piece:
Ski Free or Die Trying by *Poj5 on deviantART
Scariest video game villain of all time, guys!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Reflections on Europe
Some friends of mine are meeting up in Germany this summer, and their stories of preparation remind me constantly of how nervous I was before embarking on my own European adventure. Although I'm sure some more seasoned travelers might laugh, here was the list I compiled to "help" my friends prepare (although to be honest, I mostly just wrote this because I was feeling nostalgic). I may try and make the list an even 20 things and then post it on my website eventually, but that's probably a long way off. I put extra focus on what hostels/backpacking are like, since those were the things I knew least about before my adventures.
Things I wish people told me before I went backpacking in Europe:
1. Douglas Adams said it best - Bring a towel. If you don't bring a towel, buy one when you get there. Even if it's just a small hand towel, it'll be better than nothing. I spent half of my European trip using a damp tee shirt covered in exploded pen ink as a towel, and it was about as fun as it sounds. Get a towel, use it, keep it dry. It's an indispensable item and I'll always bring one with me in the future.
2. Don't wear a fanny pack. Even if it makes you feel more "secure," you'll look ridiculous.
3. Be aware of what your phone/carrier can and cannot do overseas before you leave. There may be fees involved if you try to use it, or it may just flat-out not work. I think AAA sells/loans travel phones at affordable rates, from what I can remember.
4. Contrary to some opinions, not all hostels are bad. Most of the hostels I stayed in were relatively clean and full of fellow adventurers. I did not once feel scared or nervous in a hostel, and they're actually the places that felt most like "home" while abroad. They see a lot of English speakers and therefore try to make things comfortable for them. I'm sure this varies widely from place to place, but I stayed in... 3? They were all decent enough.
5. That said, I found it was good practice to sleep with my valuables. I slept with my shoes, laptop, passport, and identification either on me or next to me on my bed. This was probably an unnecessarily strict precaution, but the thought of being stranded without identification, money, or shoes was a pretty good motivation to be cautious.
6. Most hostels have lockers you can rent out for the day. It was helpful to have a place to put my backpack during the day, but I would still never keep anything too valuable in there, and I wouldn't recommend using them overnight. In any case, I'd say they're worth a couple of euros per day to save your back.
7. ATM cards are awesome, perhaps TOO awesome. Instead of travelers cheques, I took my ATM card to Europe and was able to retrieve euros from pretty much all ATMs.
8. A 2 euro coin may not look like a lot of money, but it's more than 2 US dollars. They spend like coins, so they're easy to throw around without much thought to how much they're really worth. Don't go too crazy with them!
9. Laptops are really awesome things to have, but they A) take up a lot of room, B) are really heavy, and C) are a pretty big liability. If you have a netbook, or super slim laptop, definitely bring that. If you don't, I would say the pros and cons of bringing a laptop overseas (for backpackers, anyway) go pretty much 50/50. I do not regret bringing mine, but it would have been great to have something lighter instead. Most "hip" hostels seem to have free wifi.
10. TRAVEL LIGHT. I saw a couple of "backpackers" lugging around suitcases, and it looked dreadful. If you are going to be changing locations often (or even if you're not), try to fit everything into a moderately-sized backpacking pack. Many days when I left my hostel, I'd take absolutely everything I brought with me on my back. If you bring too much stuff, there probably won't be enough room to store it all and it's an added liability. Try to go for 0 checked bags, too, since that's a huge convenience and time saver.
12. Keep your pens isolated from your other stuff (and maybe in a plastic bag) so that if they blow up they won't blow up on your clothes. Seriously, this happened to me.
13. More people will speak English than you might think. The mass transit systems in Europe tend to be awesome, and workers at major transit hubs will almost certainly speak some amount of English. If they don't, ask them if they can direct you to someone who does. Politeness goes a long way, too, so remember to at least learn the native words for "please" and "thank you" for wherever you might be traveling.
15. Regularly check yourself for your passport, money, ID, and any other valuables. Every time I boarded a train or changed venues, I checked. Try to keep your small valuable items in a zipped pouch or compartment of some kind, too, since items in pockets are prone to falling out.
16. Bring a hat!! If you have to go without a shower for 1+ days, you'll be glad you did.
17. Another thing about hostels; they are not like hotels. All but one of the hostels I stayed at did not provide towels, and none provided soap, shampoo, conditioner, or other toiletries. If you want to avoid checking your bags, pick these things up at a pharmacy upon your arrival.
Things I wish people told me before I went backpacking in Europe:
1. Douglas Adams said it best - Bring a towel. If you don't bring a towel, buy one when you get there. Even if it's just a small hand towel, it'll be better than nothing. I spent half of my European trip using a damp tee shirt covered in exploded pen ink as a towel, and it was about as fun as it sounds. Get a towel, use it, keep it dry. It's an indispensable item and I'll always bring one with me in the future.
2. Don't wear a fanny pack. Even if it makes you feel more "secure," you'll look ridiculous.
3. Be aware of what your phone/carrier can and cannot do overseas before you leave. There may be fees involved if you try to use it, or it may just flat-out not work. I think AAA sells/loans travel phones at affordable rates, from what I can remember.
4. Contrary to some opinions, not all hostels are bad. Most of the hostels I stayed in were relatively clean and full of fellow adventurers. I did not once feel scared or nervous in a hostel, and they're actually the places that felt most like "home" while abroad. They see a lot of English speakers and therefore try to make things comfortable for them. I'm sure this varies widely from place to place, but I stayed in... 3? They were all decent enough.
5. That said, I found it was good practice to sleep with my valuables. I slept with my shoes, laptop, passport, and identification either on me or next to me on my bed. This was probably an unnecessarily strict precaution, but the thought of being stranded without identification, money, or shoes was a pretty good motivation to be cautious.
6. Most hostels have lockers you can rent out for the day. It was helpful to have a place to put my backpack during the day, but I would still never keep anything too valuable in there, and I wouldn't recommend using them overnight. In any case, I'd say they're worth a couple of euros per day to save your back.
7. ATM cards are awesome, perhaps TOO awesome. Instead of travelers cheques, I took my ATM card to Europe and was able to retrieve euros from pretty much all ATMs.
8. A 2 euro coin may not look like a lot of money, but it's more than 2 US dollars. They spend like coins, so they're easy to throw around without much thought to how much they're really worth. Don't go too crazy with them!
9. Laptops are really awesome things to have, but they A) take up a lot of room, B) are really heavy, and C) are a pretty big liability. If you have a netbook, or super slim laptop, definitely bring that. If you don't, I would say the pros and cons of bringing a laptop overseas (for backpackers, anyway) go pretty much 50/50. I do not regret bringing mine, but it would have been great to have something lighter instead. Most "hip" hostels seem to have free wifi.
10. TRAVEL LIGHT. I saw a couple of "backpackers" lugging around suitcases, and it looked dreadful. If you are going to be changing locations often (or even if you're not), try to fit everything into a moderately-sized backpacking pack. Many days when I left my hostel, I'd take absolutely everything I brought with me on my back. If you bring too much stuff, there probably won't be enough room to store it all and it's an added liability. Try to go for 0 checked bags, too, since that's a huge convenience and time saver.
11. Bring a healthy number of socks.
12. Keep your pens isolated from your other stuff (and maybe in a plastic bag) so that if they blow up they won't blow up on your clothes. Seriously, this happened to me.
13. More people will speak English than you might think. The mass transit systems in Europe tend to be awesome, and workers at major transit hubs will almost certainly speak some amount of English. If they don't, ask them if they can direct you to someone who does. Politeness goes a long way, too, so remember to at least learn the native words for "please" and "thank you" for wherever you might be traveling.
14. Clip your nails before you leave!
15. Regularly check yourself for your passport, money, ID, and any other valuables. Every time I boarded a train or changed venues, I checked. Try to keep your small valuable items in a zipped pouch or compartment of some kind, too, since items in pockets are prone to falling out.
16. Bring a hat!! If you have to go without a shower for 1+ days, you'll be glad you did.
17. Another thing about hostels; they are not like hotels. All but one of the hostels I stayed at did not provide towels, and none provided soap, shampoo, conditioner, or other toiletries. If you want to avoid checking your bags, pick these things up at a pharmacy upon your arrival.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Cardboard Things gets an overhaul
I finally decided to start overhauling [cardboardthings.com] again for the first time in about two years. It's not quite "all it can be" yet, but it doesn't look quite as slapped together as the original version, at least. The navigation is simpler and the graphical elements aren't nearly as 1998 and visually jarring as they used to be. Progress is awesome.
Although most of the changes I made to the site in the last couple of days were visual, I also completely re-wrote the What are they? and About the site sections virtually from scratch. I'm especially proud of the writing in "About the site."
My next logical step is the incredibly time consuming task of scanning the rest of my collection. Stay tuned!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Busy with "wuffa" stuff
As in, WfA (War for Arcadia) stuff.
This has been an interesting couple of weeks. I returned recently from a week-long trip to Arizona, which was quite relaxing and nice thanks to the above-average weather there. Back in rainy Portland, OR, I've been trying to organize myself.
I've jumped back into the job search with the determination of a hungry cheetah. "That's great!" I hear you say. It is! Right now though, I feel a little like a cheetah chasing a motorcycle down a freeway. I can almost see that perfect, glittering job just up ahead, but it's staying just out of reach and it will still be a challenge to sink my fangs into when I get close enough. I'm hoping that can-do attitude and hard work are all a cheetah needs.
I've also recently been busy helping with the "overhaul" of one of my favorite places, War for Arcadia. Upgrading the forum from phpBB2 to phpBB3 was a big job and not without its moments of exhaustion and terror, but it's now nearly finished and it's miles ahead of the old one. Many other excellent artists pooled their web design/html/css/php knowledge together in order to make this thing a success, and everyone deserves a big round of applause for their efforts. Our number of active participants has already increased, and I see that as a sign of victory.
My tablet is dead and I'm waiting for a new one to arrive in the mail. In the meantime, here's some pixel art:
This has been an interesting couple of weeks. I returned recently from a week-long trip to Arizona, which was quite relaxing and nice thanks to the above-average weather there. Back in rainy Portland, OR, I've been trying to organize myself.
I've jumped back into the job search with the determination of a hungry cheetah. "That's great!" I hear you say. It is! Right now though, I feel a little like a cheetah chasing a motorcycle down a freeway. I can almost see that perfect, glittering job just up ahead, but it's staying just out of reach and it will still be a challenge to sink my fangs into when I get close enough. I'm hoping that can-do attitude and hard work are all a cheetah needs.
I've also recently been busy helping with the "overhaul" of one of my favorite places, War for Arcadia. Upgrading the forum from phpBB2 to phpBB3 was a big job and not without its moments of exhaustion and terror, but it's now nearly finished and it's miles ahead of the old one. Many other excellent artists pooled their web design/html/css/php knowledge together in order to make this thing a success, and everyone deserves a big round of applause for their efforts. Our number of active participants has already increased, and I see that as a sign of victory.
My tablet is dead and I'm waiting for a new one to arrive in the mail. In the meantime, here's some pixel art:
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Geocaching
In lieu of a week-long trip to Tucson-area, Arizona that I have yet to write anything about, I've picked up geocaching as a hobby and taken it home with me. To the uninformed, geocaching is an outdoor sport that is essentially GPS-aided treasure hunting. It's really swell, and it may even warrant its own blog in the future, if I can stick with it. In any case, this is mostly just a PSA to let everyone know that I am alive and well, and that if you need me, I will probably be geocaching. Or drawing. One or the other.
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