Hello Everyone.

At the New Years Party this year I took a few minutes to reflect on my year and how much things had changed. This was accented by just looking around the room, which was filled with people I had met no more than 6 months ago, some of whom I had just met that night. It brought some feelings of regret and longing, but they were swiftly replaced with feelings of comfort and belonging. I had met some really nice people, and done some really cool things this year at school.

I did end the evening on something of an awkward note, however. I was reminded of how I am slightly older than my new found peers, which means when I leave for University at the end of next semester I will be leaving many of them behind. This thought has stayed with me these past few days like a bad taste in my mouth, and I hope to shake it off soon. Its just sad to know that I will be leaving this people almost as quickly as I met them.

Oh well, to another year of adventure. And thanks, to all of you, for being there for me.

Hello everyone.

Lately I have been engrossed in three different flash games (4, if you include the one I submitted). I plan on having another one up by the end of the week. However, after that I may enter a new slump, as I will be busy with other things. One of these things gives me great joy, and involves my other interest. Politics.

I am participating in EORYP (Eastern Ontario Regional Youth Parliament). We will be debating key issues affecting youth in Ontario, and I hope to meet some like-minded people there. However, it is church run, and my friends and I have slight issues with church/state relationships. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes. But I'm sure the free food, great people, and constant yelling will make up for it. (added bonus, I have a suit!)

Other than the whole politics thing (and reading), I have been completely devoted to screwing around with Flash and/or robotics (I made a robotic arm do a puzzle for me. What else could I do with an automated hand?). Expect to see great improvements over the next few months

I shall leave you with a quote which has kept me thinking today:
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles" - Master Sun

...ity. Damn Title cap. Anywho,

School will begin within a weeks time. I will be entering this first semester with great swaths of optimism because I will be participating in a program completely focused on programming and the programming arts.

As all of you have most likely noticed I have not been uploading many animations, nor have I been commenting on many pieces of art. This is partly because I have been busy doing other things (Elder Scrolls: Oblivion) and partly because I have lost nearly all motivation to animate. I dabbled in some new areas, but for the most part I could not have cared less.

That is where school comes in. When I enter this program Tuesday morning I will be introduced to a class room of creativity. Within this room I will be programming, animating, designing websites, and building robots. Hopefully this means an accelerated drive to upload my work on here

Anyway, I've secretly created a list of things I want to create in this class and be able to show to all of you. This includes:
- A sunset (aww)
- An Options window (This will be a test of my user interactivity skills)
- A very basic shooter (more like a canon on ship, or something along those lines). I've already been experimenting with the whole "bullet hits wall and explodes" animation

I hope to have a simple animation up a week or two after starting school, so watch for it! (and please, if nothing is up in that time, insult me or something).

I officially became an adult on the 15th of this month, and since that time I have been thinking about what it means to be an adult and the responsibilities that come with it.

I then began to make a mental list of which of these responsibilities I had already accomplished and which I need to work on. The most important are as follows:

1. The Group is More Important than the Individual: As an adult I must be able to recognize the fact that I play a small (albeit important) part in society, and with this I must understand that my needs are not always the same as the rest of societies. To be able to sacrifice my happiness for the groups success, be that group made of friends, family, or complete strangers, is an essential part of being an adult. This concept is not new to me, nor have I had any trouble in accepting it as a personal mantra. It plays a strong role in my political and social views.

2. Forgive, But Never Forget: As an adult I must have the strength to forgive people for the mistakes they have made, and to give them a second chance. But I must also be able to limit my forgiveness, and exact punishment when the time is necessary. I need to work on this. I have been too forgiving in the past, and as a result I have been used and abused to an appalling degree. I have attempted to correct this wrong, but I believe I may always be a little whipped, and a little scarred by past experiences.

3. Always be Aware: for not only my safety, but for the safety of everyone I may one day be responsible for (children, ext.). I must be aware of the decisions being made that will change my life and the lives of those I love, and if they pose any threat I must have the courage to express my objections. I must be aware of the feelings of others, and avoid unnecessarily hurting those feelings. I must have the courage to look back on previous decisions and admit any wrongs. Most of these I have been able to accomplish, however on the point of "having the courage to express me objections" I need serious work.

These are, in my opinion, the three most important features of an adult. If you have any point(s) to add, such as what you believe your personal responsibility as an adult is, by all means share. If you have any objections as to my three choices, or how well I have met them, I am open to your opinion. However, note that I will retort.

I got a MacBook Pro for graduating High School...

:Geekgasm:

I may be an admitted computer nerd, but I'm not going to bore you guys with the spec's. All you have to know is that I no longer need the outside world.


There were some downfalls to switching from my home PC to this guy (ie Civilization IV) but I believe the sacrifices were completely compensated by the fact that I can now play with Garage Band (and yes, one of the first things I did was recreate the 'Lost Forest' song from Zelda).

I also got a tablet, and I've been experimenting with free hand, frame-by-frame animation (which may one day make its way on to here).

All-in-all I am much happier now than I have been in a bit, and I am so satisfied with it that my next Desktop with more than likely be from Apple.

oh, and 4 GB of RAM

:GeekGasms: