ti kawamoto

So after growing it for something like two years, I decided to cut my hair a week ago. It was an experiment and the cons outweighed the pros so I had to relent.

But it was not all for nothing! When I started growing my hair, I had all intentions of donating it to charity if I ever decided to part with it. Last Friday I sent the 11" bundle off to Locks of Love, which helps children suffering from hair loss. Having had an awfully thick (and luxurious) head of hair, I'm sure it'll make at least two kids happy.

Received Vosges' bacon dark chocolate bar for Valentines Day (in addition to the real gift, which was a Viking sword!). This stuff's great. I don't know why everyone is so repulsed by the idea. Just think about it. Crunchy little bacon bits in rich dark chocolate.

Not doing it for you? Well, that just means more for me!

Here is another semi-speed paint that I just finished. It's an event from my childhood that never really occurred (but in all honesty, probably could have happened).

Done in Photoshop using a malfunctioning tablet. Since it's a speed painting, this is the original size / resolution.

Not sure when I'm going to start another legit digital painting since this computer is giving me all sorts of trouble when painting at super-duper resolutions. Awful brush lag.

Just finished this sci-fi concept painting (Photoshop + WACOM tablet). I can't really call it a speed painting because it took about 3 hours. I kind of went in there without a battle plan, starting with the rock formation on the right, then onto the grass, and added the city as an afterthought.

I was going to add a little village at the base of the river, but my computer was hanging up the entire time so I basically said "to hell with this" and wrapped it up.

The year is off to a good start. I've picked up a good amount of work so far and I am confident that it will only get better. I'm on the fast track to director certification at RETN, so hopefully I can acquaint myself with the intricacies of the studio equipment on upcoming shoots. Also, I think I am scheduled for my first solo shoot next Wednesday and it will no doubt be an interesting experience at the very least.

Tomorrow I will be off to Montpelier for the C4L state convention to do some learning. Here's hoping for clear skies and decent temps.

Just got back in town today after a lengthy vacation. I'm ready for 2010.

I am effectively MIA until January 4th or so. I will be in NJ with the family doing things families do during Christmas / New Years. I have been looking forward to the annual Peter Luger Christmas Eve steak dinner since the moment I stepped out of Peter Luger last Christmas Eve.

I will still check and respond to e-mails when I can. Happy Holidays!

Yes, it's that time again.

I tossed the old, difficult-to-update Flash site in favor of a Drupal-based page chock full of nifty graphics and CSS. Although I miss the fun animations, I think visitors will much appreciate the clean, easily navigable new format.

Though it was a pretty straightforward affair, I did learn a few things along the way:
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type:circle">A newfound RAGE for Internet Exploder</li>
<li style="list-style-type:circle">Firebug plugin for Firefox saves lives</li>
<li style="list-style-type:circle">Drupal is great and worth the time investment</li>
<li style="list-style-type:circle">Zen starter theme is indispensable</li>
</ul>
I'm not sure why Microsoft, with its infinite resources, cannot assemble a browser that renders margins properly. IE's "quirks" added about 50% more to the development time. On the upside, refreshing the page in IE and having everything line up perfectly was a great feeling.