Boom.

(Those of sound mind will get this.)

...and it's been yet another good week!

Been working like a mofo mostly. Went to an exclusive early screening for Wreck-It Ralph 2 on Wednesday (review coming up as soon as I catch up with those - posted another twelve this week), to a fancy restaurant on Monday (Borgmästarn), played some GTA VC on Android every night and this weekend I finally got this thing done. Half a year after the last update!

It's been on my mind for some time now, but various issues kept coming in the way. I won't delve into detail on that again - already posted a massive post about that on the thread which the link above links to - if for some reason you're interested in what that's all about.

You might be interested if you're a big fan of NG and have no idea what the hexalist is. Or if you're not a big fan of NG in which case you definitely should become one, and check out the hexalist as soon as you start wracking up stats. It's the ultimate list.

In site-related news I've fixed it so that I can use shy hyphenation without WordPress interfering, via this simple filter (add to functions.php if you want to use it): add_shortcode('shy', 'my_shy_shortcode'); function my_shy_shortcode($atts) {return '­';}

...when that's in there you just need to enter [shy] in a post, and there you go! I'm plotting to use this for more similar time-saving things, like non-breaking spaces and line breaks. At least.

I added in a nifty little comment edit plugin last week too, so anyone who posts - account or no, has five minutes to fix potential comment errors... or delete their comment entirely should they very quickly regret ever posting it. Since we're GDPR compliant anyone can send in a request for such things anyway, though. JSYK. This is starting to sound like a promo post. Just want to let y'all know: things be changing around here! As in: improving!

I've also been learning how to make weapons in prisons, because why not right? You never know. And prison culture's interesting.

Next week it'll be off to Östersund for a long weekend, to visit my brother and his family, maybe have some both embarrassing and good times learning basic ski techniques I should have learned some twenty years ago like everyone else who lived where there was snow did and... well, having a good time. I'll be going by train, and back by plane, straight to work, and then off to Hungary a few days later.

Was feeling kind of stressed out a few days ago, but I''m calm right now... hope it's not one of those before-the-storm things. Travel's always a double-edged edge that way. For me, at least. It's great once you've gone somewhere, but just way too much preparation - mental and otherwise - before each trip. Surely that'll all fade away with time though? And I grew up abroad. I should be used to that life. Will be living like a globetrotter a little while there's still some winter darkness to stay distracted from (speaking of that though: we've got snow now: it's awesome), and hopefully come back more focused than ever; rich with experiences from the faraway world! Err... neighboring countries. Exciting times though.

May not have time to post next weekend but I'll see y'all around. A few more reviews should be up soon too.

No more Kamikaze this week! I've been sorting files and listening to Logic interviews instead. And YBN Cordae. And others. While I do things like sift through photos and manage some by now much overdue backups, which I'm doing both locally and via the cloud, to this one service called MEGA.

MEGA is so much better now! You can upload entire folders now! I threw in a folder at a time, 100-200 photos each, and it didn't *knock on wood - still uploading - at least I was when I started writing this* crash a single time. Forget that: 600 files at once!!! It can handle that now. It used to crash at a hundred or less, and lag up the browser... though it's possible updating browser settings, and/or the browser and/or disabling multiprocessor support also had something to do with it.

But it can handle folders now, and just that's pretty cool. It loads faster too.

I was going to post this post last Sunday, but time just ran away back then. This week I've been on a zone therapy session, banged my toe against a chair so the nail turned black (no need for nail polish now if I ever needed it - not that I ever did), and have been hanging out with my nephew - just stopping by - the last couple of days. We've been touring the city, going to cafes and waterfronts and Fotografiska, a photography museum which apart from having exquisite exhibitions also seems like an exceptional cultural hub. Their cafe was packed, live music played in another room, and they even had real towels in the bathrooms. It's a pretty cool place. I also hung out with Buddy Bear one night and watched this old thing.

The week before this one I visited Bergrummet (a private toy museum with a pretty impressive showcase) with another buddy, and was supposed to go to a restaurant too but caught a stomach bug instead. We rebooked the restaurant a few days later but I wasn't OK yet so we booked it yet again, this coming week.

A couple days after this I ate a bag of chips, and realized I shouldn't have done that, so I've been keeping a mild diet for a while thereafter... as well as two days prior to the chips. Stayed home from work one day and that was that. Work and a variety of other tasks (been delving into online auctions too, booking trips to Tallinn and Malaga, voice acting a new role) apparently took up the rest of my time...

Oh, and we celebrated Father's Day! With some Russian chocolate from Lithuania and home-made cake that I couldn't eat (stomach bug still).

I've also been tagging up posts en masse, correcting various small site issues, and trying to find referrals for Initiative Q before my time limit runs out. People are just too skeptic. If you know you can't lose anything on something, then you can only potentially profit from it, right? Possible win/win. No possible loss/loss. I managed 4/5 referrals on the last day.

Speaking of something else entirely: I've had way too many reviews in my backlog for some time now, and they just seem to be adding up more and more, so here's a hundred I'm taking away. I'll just leave them here. In this post. Maybe some day with more time to spare I can come back to this and watch a few, or realize I've worked my way through a bunch of them without knowing it. I still hope to watch these but I just don't want the backlog right now. It's too much. Cleaning out my faucet.

If you're looking for recommendations maybe some of these might tickle your fancy: Wolf Mother, Lionheart, Baby Driver, Cult Of Chucky, Oceans Rising, Veronica, Salyut-7, Stardust, Dark, Lawrence Of Arabia, Inner Space, M.F.A., Home Again, Ideocracy, 211, Sex And Lucia, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, The Big Sick, The Osiris Child, What We Do In The Shadows, Feds, Firestarter, Rain Man, Friends With Benefits, Remember Me, The Boy, No Estamos Solo, The Danish Girl, Eddie, The Cabin In The Woods, Her, Bicentennial Man, Jungle Fever, Blood Father, Game Night, A Cure For Wellness, The Last Days Of Left Eye, Life After Death Row, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The Saint, Subway, Cat People, Special Police, Six Pack, Schindler's List, Paul, Logan's Run, Titus, Saturday Killer, Bodied, Hangman, Loose Change 9/11, Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster, Brimstone, Pandorum, Railroad Tigers, Coraline, Open Your Eyes, The Reality of Truth, Jönssonligan, Take Back Your Power, Dellamorte Dellamore, Desert Kickboxer, Crash, Wallace & Gromit, Haunters: The Art Of The Scare, The Hours, Harmy's Star Wars, King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Magnolia, Aces Go Places 4, Aces Go Places 5, The Last Witchhunter, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Chairman, Revolt, Virus, 6 Days, Stargate, Green Inferno, Broken Arrow, Beverly Hills Cop, Boxcar Bertha, Mysteriet Ragnarök, Dylan Dog - Dead Of Night, Nudes In Limbo, A Scanner Darkly, Waking Life, Maze, Fukrey, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Caligula, Chappie, Casino, Tusk, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Firewalker and Krull.

There. Maybe I'll get back to those later on.

Regarding these weekly posts: I just keep coming back to them. There have been phases where they felt like an unwanted routine, but every time I'm in a good mood; when life's going well and I feel like blogging... this is just the optimal time and day to do so. It feels like I'm back on these indefinitely, but I fear announcing it decisively since maybe the pressure of routine will amount again and I'll want to take a break...

Speaking of the George Orwell thing I posted recently I just stumbled upon this thing from 2015! What are the odds. Overall it's been a good week, and the next one's looking to be just as eventful! I'll speak to you in a few.

So once again, this thing is done! I made it. I strayed a day while away in Lithuania during the middle of month, but caught up the next. Hope that's OK - I didn't want to compromise my one day of pure vacation.

This year I've been drawing my doodles via this, instead of Flash 8 as I've done the previous two, and I've been using the Wacom only with some of the latter pieces, since basically... I forgot about it.

But then when I remembered, and started using it again, I realized that without the smoothing function that professional programs like Flash (now Animate) or Photoshop so gallantly provide you with, it was actually harder to make the lines go the way I wanted to with a pen than with the mouse.

Blame habit. Blame an old tablet. I don't know. I ended up using the pen mostly for line-intensive work for this reason, and the mouse for everything else: mainly single dots (the pen has a tendency to stray) and smoother forms.

Not sure what tools I'll go with next year, but if opportunity allows it's always fun to try something different! Cheers to this years great collective; all the creativity it spawned, and looking forward to the next.

Inktober 2018 over and out.

Our time shifted today. Summer to winter. As if to make it official the snow swept in against us during both our morning and afternoon promenade, and between those times the sun shone outside; we sat in with cake and a cup of tea, celebrating my sister's 40th birthday.

Happy Birthday Maud!

I've been uploading Inktober submissions to the site today, both old and new, and you'll probably be seeing some more of the new ones in the coming days! They're all drawn via this. Go check it out. It's pretty fun!

I had some other dues I hoped to do today, but alas the weekend's up now, and tomorrow it all starts again. Winter time or no it seems I wake up the same time. I was hoping I'd have an hour to spare. Maybe tomorrow.

I'm listening to Eminem's newest album as I write this, and have been most of today. Kamikaze. I love it. From the first round and all that follow! Favorite tracks right now, in order:

1. Normal
2. Not Alike
3. Lucky You
4. The Ringer
5. Greatest
6. Venom

...that last one's just so catchy! Stepping Stones would definitely have been one of those if it wasn't for the Berserk-like bits of it, which just don't fit a bit, and it's a shame about the MGK feud but you can't not appreciate that track anyway. I'm not taking sides. I'm tuned in to both. I appreciate y'all.

This whole album's great though! What a change from the previous! Em does it best without the hype. With a little bit of anger. I think I'll keep this on loop for at least a few days and nights now.

See you soon, with quite a few soon due Inktober doodles.

It is a bit late, but I've been going through Inktober drawings this afternoon and finally, retrospectively adding in last year's Inktober dose, previously only available via my art page on NG.

Similar to the previous year all drawings were done in Flash 8 - one for each day of the month, and apart from the final one I think I nailed every single date. That's the challenge: staying disciplined and drawing something ever single day of October!

As with the year before most are at least partly drawn with my old Wacom Bamboo too. It seems to be the one yearly occasion for which I bring it out. It still feels sort of awkward compared to a regular mouse.

I feel I keep improving with these, even if I wish I'd be more active during the eleven months between these events. I've barely drawn a thing between these times. Barely. And I barely drew a thing between this and this year, too, but maybe I can keep going a bit this time around...

Inktober 2017's over, but the end of 2018's challenge is coming up soon. Hope to post those without the same delay. :) I've been testing a different medium this time. Changing things up a bit. For now here's a link to last year's Inktober dose again.