Personal – Page 8 – The Designer Monologues

January 5, 2015

2015

Here we are in the not-quite-cyberpunk future of 2015. As part of my plans for the year, I intend on getting back to more frequent blogging (yeah, yeah, I know — everybody with a blog says that. Well, I need to get back on top of productivity this year after the train wreck of 2014, and blogging is an easily-accomplished method of getting onto a structured schedule), so here we are.

I started this first full-time week of 2015 with an attempt to climb the mountain of neglected organization: I created a top-level Trello board for projects, after being convinced of its usefulness (along with the pomodoro technique), in a series of blog posts by my friend Eddy Webb. This top-level board has only 3 stages: Conceptual/Development/In Progress.

“In Progress” = Actively underway towards completion.

“Development” = brainstorming, initial drafts, research, work being done.

“Conceptual” = the basics of an idea to do, maybe an outline.

I expect to get more granular when I dig down into more month-to-month and day-to-day organization, but for right now, I’m in the HOLY CRAP THAT’S A TON OF STUFF panic stage.

First on the plate, obviously: Get the late stuff out the door. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get back to that.

November 27, 2014

Thankful

It’s Thanksgiving here in the US, and I figured I’d take the time to… well, give thanks.

2014 has been an awful year for me in a lot of ways — worst in a while. The biggest thing, of course, was the medical crisis which pretty much derailed the first half of the year. Since then, I’ve been struggling to get Adamant Entertainment back on track — and I’m nowhere near there yet (I’m working today, in fact, trying to get FAR WEST finally out to my far-too-long-suffering backers).

But I’ve got a helluva lot to be thankful for this year, too. Beyond the obvious “not dying” thing, which was a possibility.

I’m extremely thankful for all of you — my family, friends, and supporters. This year, you’ve really made your presence felt. When I took the chance to ask for help with the massive medical bills resulting from my hospital stays, you came to my rescue. I’m still so grateful — and, honestly, stunned at the level of response.

I want to single out my in-laws, Jerry and Nancy Hanson. After I managed to get back to work in the middle of the year, the computer that I’d been using for all of my work, hours per day, every day since 2009 started to have problems, one after another. Jerry and Nancy gave me the critical help needed to secure a new machine. Thanks for this are also owed to my friend Josh Jaffe, who generously offered the use of his Apple Employee Purchase Plan (EPP). You all kept me working.

Thanks as well to my backers and pre-order customers, who have continued to demonstrate vast patience as I stumble and stagger to get back on my feet and back on track. I’ve thanked you many, many times — and I don’t think it’ll ever be enough.

Thanks to the Kansas City Art Institute and my students there — for giving me the opportunity to teach, which I’ve discovered is something I really, really enjoy.

So, yeah — even in a year which, on its face, was pretty bad, I’ve been given quite a lot to be thankful for.

Thank you all!

March 14, 2014March 16, 2014

Down But Not Out

I’ve been remiss, and have ignored this blog — but then again, everything has been on hold recently. The picture at left is a shot taken by my wife about a month ago — I was unexpectedly hospitalized with a sudden infection.

To copy the update that I posted on Adamant Entertainment’s site: I came down with a very severe case of diverticulitis which resulted in the removal of 12 inches of my colon, and a secondary severe abdominal abscess, which they thankfully caught before it burst (which, I am told, would have likely resulted in severe enough peritonitis to kill me). This resulted in a 9-day hospital stay, and an estimated 6-8 week recovery period involving at-home nurse care and an eventual secondary operation to repair the colon (another week-long stay in the hospital).

Basically, I’ve been getting down with the business of getting well, and as such, everything else has been paused. I’m slowly getting back to work (a few hours each day), and I’m even thinking that I’ll start updating this more regularly (I’ve been tempted to start up my old Friday Music series again, for example).

So for folks who’ve been checking in: I’m still alive, I’m getting better, and I’ll be back soon.