If there's one thing I HATE about macs, it's the asinine roundabout way it likes to do things.

So I've got a how-to book about CSS telling me to save my external stylesheet with the extension of .css, but whenever I try to save it as a css file, TextEdit ABSOLUTELY REFUSES to save it that way. Oh sure, you can go to TextEdit > Preferences and have a tiny pull-down menu for if you want embedded or inline CSS included in html, but I can't find anything on actually SAVING A FILE AS A STYLESHEET.

For Windows, I used to be able to just type ".css" at the end of my file name and POOF! It's a stylesheet!

I'm really getting sick 'n tired of having to go through VMware Fusion and opening Windows on my mac just so I can WORK ON PROJECTS. It has Photoshop Elements (can't afford the latest version), Flash 8 (also can't afford update), and all the other Windows basics I've relied upon over the years... including the better-than-Mac's-snobby-chess game of SOLITAIRE! <3
The only apps I use on the mac on a regular basis is dashboard, firefox, Sketchbook Pro (Oh Mac, you are so sad; I had to install an art program on a computer boasting to be an artist's friend!), iTunes, and good ol' Fusion. :P

I'm not going to be online from Sept. 12 - 21, since we're takin' a trip to the Nutmeg State. :P

See ya!

Argh. There was a small project I was hoping to get done before my trip to CT, but I guess Windows on VMware Fusion (for Macs) decided that it doesn't want to import music anymore. I've had problems with music on this thing before, going as far as to freeze the whole program on me and rebooting from a snapshot. Internet is also fickle on it, especially for NG. all the formatting goes weird, dropdown boxes go missing, and I can't log on. I guess Flash is just having a problem with downloaded music, since I don't have any problems with sound on my other projects.

I've tried installing Flash 8 on my Mac, but since it has OSX version 10.5.4, Flash 8 refuses to even open up, giving the message, "The AuthPlay DLL/Lib is missing from the configuration folder.". The most recent versions of the Mac OS will only accept Flash CS3.
Phooey.
I don't have the money for an upgrade, so I guess in the meantime I'll just do the best with what I have and work on projects that don't need music yet.

**EDIT** Found a loophole! All I had to do was copy the flash file from my computer, open it up in the secondary computer, put the music in, save 'n quit, then transfer the file back to my computer. It's working fine now, and I hope to get this project done within a week!

Part 4 of the CTSG Collab is now (unofficially) DONE!!

...I say unofficially in that the flash file hasn't been turned in to the collaborator, but I'll be getting to that very soon.

AAhhhhh, it feels so good to get that neurosis-inducing monkey off my back!

For irrational reasons, I can't bring myself to go anywhere near the NG forums or my projects. I guess I fear a torrent of hatred aimed at me, whether I get things done or not.
Poopies. :(

I also feel like I've lost my artistic touch, which is NOT a good thing.

Usually when I get bored with a project, I just move on to something else and keep cycling through different mediums until I feel like tackling it again... But right now I'm stuck in a doldrum and I can't. do. anything. People are waiting on me (probably angry by now) and I'm not really free to move on until I'm done. Truthfully, I've NEVER been so bitterly disgusted with an art-related project in my life as I have been with my 2nd CTSG animation. It's constantly on my mind and wearing a hole in my stomach lining as well.

... It also doesn't help that a week ago I had stopped at an intersection and right behind me some idiot was talking on her phone while driving, dropped it, went to pick it up and immediately rear-ended my car. I've been having chronic headaches and fatigue since then.

Went to the library the other day to validate the use of their free parking for the 3 Rivers Festival. Picked up 3 books:

-How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons
-GarageBand for Mac OS X
-The Creative Art of Garnishing

The last one was just because recently I've had a hankering to make bento lunches and wanted to make them look... prettier.
(Ha ha, that is one of the best things about being a woman: you don't have to worry about defending your masculinity. Women can listen to fruity music, decorate food 'n stuff, and just plain act silly with sheer impunity.)

Anyway, I've been wanting to tinker around with audio loops and voice recording for future projects. Since Newgrounds isn't that originality-savvy (judging from portal entries), I figure that slapping together some loops and plunking out notes here 'n there will be adequate for my needs. The main exception is if/when I start on the really important projects. Then I'll hire(?) someone experienced to do the mixing.

Until then...

It's been about 6 years since I went to my first convention, and now I get to go to another hometown one! I won't be cosplaying or buying a lot of stuff, but I will bring my markerboard, my camera, and a homemade lunch or 3 so I won't have to waste money on fast food or takeout. My sweetie is also coming along, and I'm gonna make him a mess of business cards with credit of his horror story publications... namely, his contribution to "History Is Dead" by Permuted Press. I'll try to make some cards for myself too, but all I can really put on it is my name, email, and my NG account address. :P

Still, promotion is promotion.

WAAAAAAAAARGH I gotta stop leaving huge yappy "thought-provoking" blocks of text on my front page all the time... it gets depressing.

News? What news?

OH Right, current events. Well, sometime in the near future the well-off in-laws shall be gifting me a Mac of some sort... thankfully these guys sell Mac products at discounted prices and also throw in some freebies as well. Normally, I'd shun any presence of the corporate iWhore, but in reality it would do me some good to have the experience that is so prominently needed in the multimedia field.

Speaking of career related self-improvement, I found a book at the library called Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office by Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D. It's essentially a book that teaches women to grow a backbone in the workplace. I consider it the nicorette for my addiction to lameness. What's sad is that my brother could use the same advice mentioned in the book. :P I also found Dr. Phil's Self Matters book, but the more I read it the more I felt it was a load of optimistic BS.

Welp, back to work.

Obviously, anyone who's spent some time at Newgrounds knows that the backbone of of the site is the flash portal, where anyone can submit any kind of animation or game and have it judged by the general internetty public.

There is no written rule that people who subscribe or visit the site MUST vote on submissions, but encouraged with benefits of site ranking and potential for winning a monthly prize.

Unfortunately, achieving high rank and gambling for the hundred bucks doesn't entice me enough to scar my psyche on pustulent steamers submitted to the portal. The main reason I've worked to get to level 13 rank is because I think straight razors are cool. (When I was younger, whenever I would get double freezer pops, after eating them I'd split off a piece from one popsicle stick and make a pseudo-razor and use the other stick as the handle. :3 I was weird in a playful way, not a suicidal way, mind you.)

I guess what's bothering me is that by not voting on a regular basis, does that make me a contributor to the flaws of the portal system? Should I vote and suffer through horrible stick figure tweens and bad voice acting for the greater good, or can I go on with avoiding the situation without feeling guilty about it?
Another reason why I have trouble voting on a regular basis is that I'm clearly biased when voting. I try to avoid anything rated "Adult" or "Mature", even though I'm 23 and shouldn't (in theory) be bothered by it. I'm put off by reliances on cock jokes, fad bandwagoning, cheesecake shots, sprites, Times New Roman font usage, and misogyny. Oh yeah, and don't get me started on rap... >:P
Usually the highest I'll vote on a submission is 3, unless I feel it's really exceptional, then I'll push for a 4. So how can I be an effective part of the system when my personal opinion affects what should be an unbiased vote?

I guess I can't help but wonder if anyone else has this dilemma.

Sometime this morning, I was having some dream involving visiting my folks back home, and in the dream I heard my mind speak the word "dread..!" and then the strong notion to wake up. When I did, I heard glass vibrating somewhere in the house. For some odd reason, I thought I was having a whole body muscle spasm, but it turned out it was just this. Weird.
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Ugh. I really... REALLY hate jobhunting. Especially when I'm not mentally and physically prepared for it. Something about working for two-faced, money-grubbing Corporate America just makes me cringe. Even if I did feel like I could hold down a typical job, I don't have the confidence in myself or the ability to shlock my way through an interview.

So I get depressed. When I get depressed, I fight it off by doodling. For some reason, I have a penchant for drawing old people faces. I really don't know why.
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And for the CTSG collab, yes, I'm still working on it. Don't worry though, I've got about half of my list done on that, and I plan on working on it some more tonight and tomorrow.