blueshaine's Journal

9:10pm: lazy update
Well, nothing much has changed here, since I post most news on dA instead. Again, even checking that site you'll notice I don't mention much about my personal life. Things are a constant medium, and that's a good thing to have. Bills get paid, I make money at a substandard job, and I continue.
    At home, I get some art made at least twice if not moreso a week, get minor chores accomplished, and then study a tad. Updating this now for the sheer boredom from not doing it.

10:16am: I love my workout
Finding that I got a desire to exercise...about the same time as Erico, I recall. It's something about winter when you realize that suddenly you aren't a bear so you don't need to pack on the pounds. I haven't built up a long workout, just something that fills an hour before work. I prefer to get up early so I can finish it way before then.
      The setup is easy:
    -Stretch legs out, arms, back.
    -Swing hips in a rotation (think hula hoop) ten times left, then ten times right. Followed by ten side
              bendsto both sides. Repeat until 50 rotations/bends are completed. Increase or decrease 
              depending on day.
    -Slow kicks and far reach. Kicking as high as I can straight forward for ten times per leg. Far reach -
            stretch arm until you feel the tension.  Hold and attempt to push the limit.
    -15 lb. dumbells. Lift - my reps are 25 lifts, so I finish one rep and place them down to let my biceps relax.
           Shake out the arms, back to the next rep. My max thus far is 100 total reps. The goal is to keep the
           definition in my arms and not to bulk up. I've added an additional 10 lifts with two 10 lb. weights.
     -Situps on the Ab Lounger. This thing is Hell. You swing back and crunch like the jack-knife dive off a
            diving board. I do 40 so far, with many stops to stare at the ceiling and ponder why I subject my body
             to it. Then I look at my gut slowly getting flatter. Oh, yeah....

  And that's it so far. If I had more time and the space was cleared, I'd use our elliptical and jog/walk a mile or two. I get enough walking at work, however, and my workout days are Mon/Wed/Fri with all other days off. I'll eventually delegate a workout schedule for Tues/Thurs, but it'll be some while. I have noticed a spike in energy all around when I get the sleep for it, and I am liking it every minute. I also know the mindset; You miss a day? Don't quit. Just retry the next week to make it. I'm also consciously eating less junky and less quantity. It's helping a lot, too, to work on less food than what you get for a meal in a restaurant. The 'engine' works better when it's not bogged with too much work.  Anyway, this was inane to write about, but I hope it was informative to a certain degree.

     Enjoy

10:29pm: Lost Legion: Protecting the Sheep as Wolves

               Cross' orders were perfectly clear. Meis smiled faintly to the fresh memory of the words his CO had spoken. 'Julian, you take Corporal Whispern with you. You are entrusted to keep these people's passage through Sarine's Woods as unmolested as possible.'  He'd then gone on and in a quieter voice  'and if at all possible, Julian...try not to kill anyone else. We want to make this as bloodless as can be.' 
               They were here to protect the townsfolk, but Meis believed that some of them could easily have fended for themselves if it came down to it. The grizzled blacksmith, Fennec Thom, had his forging hammer slung over one shoulder, and a recently completed longsword sheathed in a scabbard on his hip. With a glint in his eyes, the smith indicated that he was fully prepared, and ably trained, to use them. Fennec met the Lieutenant's stare and grinned at the nimble swordsage."Right about now, I'm guessing that you're thinking 'I'm glad I didn't have to fight him'!"
              Meis' smile was more a smirk, but it sat well on his face as he replied. "I'm afraid you have it wrong. I wouldn't have fought you at all. August would've." Fennec's response was a throaty laugh that echoed in the trees.
             "Then I'll tell you what, Mr. spindley limbs. If we go get into a mess of trouble, get behind me an I'll keep you safe." Meis made a snort of a laugh, and let the matter drop entirely. The blacksmith smiled all the brighter, then seemed to remember something. "By the way, Mr..."
              "Meis. Continue."
             "You had another with you here at the back, but I don't see her anywhere at present. Where'd that pretty young thing move off to?" Meis looked lazily around, having spotted her but not pausing long enough to give recognition to his actions. "Much like a cat, Cailyn roams as she pleases. She's right where she needs to be at this very moment in time."

            The first sign of enemy activity was a harshly soft word followed by the twang of a bow. The word that drifted down from the canopy above was all the Lieutenant needed to hear - "Trouble" He broke off from the last of the fleeing townfolk and took to hiding directly behind a tree that was his width in size. There was a prolonged grunt of pain and a cry of angry surprise before Julian saw any of their pursuers and he momentarily cursed his decidedly human heritage. Four soldiers -one limping - and a pompous figure in colored robes trailing behind. "Icecross" Meis gripped his longsword's handle ever tighter while he grit his teeth. He slid it silently out of the sheath and stood in a martial stance that exposed his boots from behind the tree.
           The wizard leading the troopers was scanning the branches above as well as his two crossbowmen. A rustle of leaves alerted them to movement and they fired without question. The bolts sailed into the leaves, tearing them off the otherwise empty branches. Incredulously the wizard pulled on his long beardlet. "Impossible." The ~twang~ of a bow from the opposite branch shot down and embedded itself into the shoulder of one of the crossbow sentry, who dropped his weapon with an agonized scream. Meis used that as his introduction and sped out from his hiding spot at an inhuman speed to the five.
            Two were already in no condition to really put up much of a scrap, so the rushing swordsage took full advantage to his first slicing maneuver at the trooper who was left readied for a battle. His icy blue eyes flashed when the steel scored a minor cut against the enemy's armor and drew blood on his sword arm. The trooper cursed and used his shield to bash at the Lieutenant, who darted back in time to avoid any harm.
             The second crossbow sentry readied his next bolt, the first drew his short blade in preparation to attack the ground assailant. The trooper who was supporting his injured comrade moved to Meis and struck at him with a sturdy blow that almost knocked him off his feet, had the swordsman not been so gracefully swift. It was the mage who had any luck, who scowled and levelled a finger that shot three entwining shots of green energy at him that struck home and sizzled off his leather coat. Meis howled in hurt then cast a murderous look the spellweaver's way. "Leslie, I may be breaking a solemn promise..."
             A ~twang~ in the buttocks of the second crossbowman was the debilitating insult to his failure to attack the treetop shooter. Meis stood taller, and swung his sword in a way that a shadow weapon appeared beside his own. The trooper was so offset by the sight that he couldn't react quickly enough for the two swords to connect. The steel itself was turned to smack him in the head with the flat of the blade and the shadow passed through his exposed neck to induce a chilling touch. He fell to the ground unconscious while the second in command of the Red Cross Legion escaped the onslaught of his enraged companions.
             The air grew brighter as a bolt of lightning soared into Meis' position. He widened his eyes and shifted behind the military troopers he used to serve with. The metal armor the trooper wore attracted the electricity. Meis looked past the frying soul to the mage and leveled his sword at the wizard. "You'll be the next to fall." The middle aged wizard cocked an eyebrow in mockery.
             "I, you traitorous wretch? I'd not wager the silver in my coinpurse on such a fool's errand! But do come at me, if you wish to leave this mortal coil!"
              The singing ~twang~ resounded again, crippling another trooper from getting in Meis' way. He screamed a battlecry and sprinted to the spellcaster as the robed mage raised his hands in the incantations of a spell. The sword cut down into the robes of the spellcaster, but did not do more than wound him. The remaining sentries and troopers were neither closeby nor able to assist, but the leading mage finished his incantations and outstretched his hands which had taken on a reddish orange fiery light. "Icecross" Meis used his sword arm to slap the wizard's right hand to the side, and used his free arm to grip the wrist on the other arm. The wizard cursed as the licking flames erupted out from his fingertips and palm to burn the air and some nearby tree. A horrified cry from above was followed by a ~twang~ and an arrow shot by the Red Cross Legion's scout sailed to its intended target.
             The faintest of barriers rose in time to repulse the missle to the ground, and the mage cackled as he struggled against the swordsage in front of him. "You fools have no chance to defeat me! Rrgh! Even against such odds I shall emerge victorious because I was more prepared than you! Look now! My allies besiege your treasonous followers!"
    Meis roared as he let loose his next maneuver. Ignoring the spellcaster's taunts, he offbalanced the lighter man and swung him in a tight circle before hurling the mage a scant eight feet into a tree. The grotesque sound of grissly tissue and popping bones was not a good sign, however, and without stopping to check the body Meis knew he would not breath again.
              Cailyn called down in dismay from the treetops. "Lieutenant! The Townsfolk!" Meis spun their direction to the sight of five more figures emerging from a pocket space of nowhere and right on top of the escaping people. He swore, placed his feet in a jumping crouch and leapt into the voidspace of the nearest shadow.
          --------
   Fennec Thom heard the unnatural sounds of magic behind them in the forest. He was one of the few brave souls among the townsmen that turned in time to do something aside from panic. And while he saw the four troopers and the lone mage appear in front of where he looked, he drew his sword and decided that now was the right time to make a stand. "If you think you've come here to harm these innocents, I've got a spot of poor news coming your way!" The first two troopers advanced on him with their club and axe, the axe he caught with the perfected edge of his longsword. He won the strike with his forge hammer against the other man's club. With a crack to the forehead, the soldier fell down gripping his scalp in his hands and moaning and swearing. Fennec grinned widely and stared down the rest. The smile was to be wiped away when he saw the wizard hold out his finger and incant some obscure language. The moisture in the air went sucked to the gathered energies. 
         A blue frost shot out and extended in a sprayed cone out to the blacksmith's location. But Fennec never felt the least bit of subzero energies strike him. He watched as the improbable had occured. The spindled limbed swordsman stood before him with his arms held out to either side...and it seemed that the spell was being called right into his own body of its own accord. When the spell ended, "Icecross" Meis stood taller as if he had been given renewed vitality. And when he spoke next, his breathe came out as steam.
          "That was a big mistake." The swordsman ran off, and Fenn reacted much in the same manner as he brought his hammer into the face of the trooper whose axe he still had trapped with his sword.

             The mage was similarly protected from arrows as Cailyn Whispern found out. She held the replacement arrow in her mouth as she jumped to the next branch. If the the wizards weren't fair game, then she'd assist the townsfolk. Though she wanted to give backup to the lieutenant, she found that he was in full spirits. It was close to changing.
 
           The emboldened mage was nonplussed by the ex-soldier coming his way - by way of his falling men, no less. He held his gloved hand outwards while keeping the bare hand behind while he chanted. The brown haired man whose eyes shone eerily blue did not expect the purplish energy course up the clenched hand and was certainly not prepared when the mage unleashed his spell.
          "Kneel and cower!" He shouted, grasping the surprised Meis by the throat. His nervous system went crazed in pain and he dropped his sword on the ground with his screams. He dropped his hand to his side and forced his eye on the wizard while he reached for the dagger at his hip. The wizard used his free hand to begin a minor orison to further injure his trapped prey. Another arrow shot loose his way and was dropped uselessly away. When he glanced back to the swordsage, his eyes widened in terror and the world ceased to be.

       Julian pulled the dagger out of the jowl of the dead, cleaning it off on the man's robe. The rest of the soldiers were injured, sure enough, but he hadn't spared a mage since his servitude in the army. He felt a serious pang of guilt to his close friend and what he would think when he found out. His lip twitched, and he resolved to tell Cross the truth. He staggered when he picked his weapon up and met up with the people he had almost failed to protect. He weakly smiled to the broad shouldered Fennec and said "I might have been right about you." The smith couldn't reply before the blonde scout whistled from above. "Coast is clear for now, Lieutenant!"
          "Good work, Corporal. Stay on the alert!"
          "Are you going to be all right, Julian?" Fennec coughed and spoke up. "Julian, eh?" 
    Meis ignored it with his smirk and waved to the trees. "Keep on, I'll live to see this day's end at the least."

8:09pm: Sickness, hooray
Ouch, my body is sore as all get out. Got sick a few times this day, too. Looks like this cold isn't just for show.

6:51pm: Merry X-mas
I got into the festive spirit only on Monday, when I realized that when I get back to work on Friday, we will be closing at our regular times. It made this genuine smile go on my face, with that hint of smug superiority I can't hide.
         Still, I now want to wish everyone I know a good and Merry X-mas. I know it's X-mas since nobody I know these days doesn't celebrate it. Live it up, we're heading to the new year in a week or so, so let this old one go out with a hangover.

11:22pm: Yearly, or not so yearly, update

There's nothing on the new news portion at all. Work's busy as all get out because of X-mas season, and it's nearly over. I am actually extremely pleased to think about it. Retail, for me, literally kills holiday spirit and jovial attitudes. I don't expect that to happen to my friends, however. They're different people for good reasons. No one wants clones.

             I got into an online course to certify myslef with Adobe Illustrator. With the increased work hours, I've yet to get together a good time to study and take the tests, but I'm having this hunch I'll need to sleep early and rise much earlier than I normally do to achieve it. Will be tough, but I like mornings when I get used to the schedule change.
              Drawing practice begins yet again! I'm sorta trying to crank out at least 10 fast sketches to improve my ability to create, before I 'seriously' make a picture. Read that in a book, will keep reading books to make sure I wasn't filled with worthless shyte.
    As far as games go, I'm running Vampire (which the only people who read this already know...) and am playing various emulation coupled with the remake of Quest for Glory 2, and it is gloriously sweet! Nostalgia big time for that one.
               Writing, or typing rather, have a few projects on hold due to a lack of drive. I'm working on a realmpost, but that's no new news to whoever reads this. The other projects I've neglected because I haven't made the time to think on them at all. How can the heroes expect to finish their conquest when I'm fresh out of ideas on what to throw at those schmucks this time? Happens in the game I run, but I always have copout forms of excitement.

     Anyway, who knows when I'll post again, as I'm exceptionally great at procrastination!

-Andy
 

1:20am: Huh, posted something

On the Deviant Art page I have. More than one, actually, for the week. It's not a miracle; Boredom fits the bill better.
      I'm collecting personal pictures and thinking about the experiences that made me draw them.  Most of the times I draw Marine crying. It's not that I want her in despair, it's that she's got a much prettier face for the job than my other ones. Braden's face is sometimes all sad, too, but that's rarer than Marine's sorrow pictures.
      As Eric says, "The EYES, Andy! It's the EYES!!" I like the look I had back in '00 or so. I had my prime feelings for drawing, a big outlet (so I thought) and nothing dropped me a peg that wasn't me.
      Still create drawings of that calibur. Hell, I exceed them most times I try now. The raw power is lost somewhat. I want it back. Posessive? No, it's mine and I want it back, is all. I need to get into that again, no matter what. I want to loosen up, get relaxed with my surroundings, and let go with all the energies.
      Have tastes of inspiration wherever I go on my days off. That's the problem with not carrying a notepad with you everywhere. Neither is it fair that the steam disappears after I return home. I'll get it back, it'll take some extra effort and a whole hell of a lot of not letting myself eff around with that time.
         Is it right to think that a person is accountable for the telling of a story when they refuse to make time to work on it? You damn right it is. I can feel the energy in me at the rate that I speed along websites....constantly checking to see if they update. The only useful phrase plastered on the walls of my job are "If you want Change then You must Be the change." quoted on that wall as by Ghandi.
       So many quotable quotes, keep some on my laptop, and some in a wordpad, too.

       More ranting wanted, but sleep is asking me to meet it. Better get rest while it wants me.

    -Andy

1:32pm: Bored Enough
       People like myself shouldn't have journals. It's not that I don't like to keep a record of my thoughts for posterity, but I never think to stop for less than 10 minutes of my day to cognitively assign them onto a page of paper, nor a digital medium like this lj of mine.
       I'd say today doesn't count, since I'm obviously in a rare mood to do so. I'm gonna rattle off a few things and then be back to my standard web surf -and-general-dink-with-video-games day. So here we go;

     Motly active today since I'm pumped up about making a post on the onlinefantasyroleplayer's realm where I'm a member and have been as a corpse for the last three to four months. I'm also in a drawing slump, which is bad. Need to draw in order to get better => need to get better in order to make badass comic pages => want to do that for my life's career and haven't been at it like I should. My friend Cory has been on the sidelines (meaning the time he's not working at graduating) trying to lift my spirits and get me not only motivated, but slightly obsessed with creating. Good tries, I'll work on getting there somehow.
        I'm pumped about reading more, despite how lame that sounds. I've liked to read ever since I was younger, but I don't on an average and that makes me feel just slightly dumb compared to my true potential, which is in actuality a major thinker. Need to get in touch with that part of my self. The books are mystery genre for the most part, but I'm forcing some good science fiction titles in there so I'm not completely centering my interests on high fantasy. The mystery was a surprise, I didn't know I liked that type of reading. I do, go me!

       Lastly, I've been dominating video games, which is no surprise....I play them often and most of the time am cheating to beat them faster. The only downside to that is that I'm playing games for outdated systems and not experiencing the newest tech available. Hold on: not a problem at all, I love these older games. They make me reminisce about childhood and also give me a boost to ego when I absolutely destroy them....especially megaman 2 where I don't cheat to win. Damn that's some huge ego there.
       Playing in a few roleplaying games online. Run by Erico and by my old roomie, Jake. Both are fun, and I am only held back by my lack of placing energy/thought processing into the character's motives and interests. Chucking dice is a good pasttime, though.
      that wraps it up for the most part. For today, it's a free one from work, I'm catching up on chores and getting some more of that 'feel good' creativity going, with effort to evolve into the better overall ME.

     that was a blast for a mess around post, take it easy everyone who reads this (just erico, I'm figuring) =p

-Andy 

8:17pm: What a fine day that I had to waste

   On Shoveling. Damn that sucked.
        At the early morning my mom tells me that I get to make her scrambled eggs since she...well, she doesn't want to make them before she has to work. Her laziness is admirable, I say =p
      We took an early drive in the white stuff to get to the post office for her eBay shipping. It provides me with a feel for what I'll have to do in order to pick up my oldest sis from her house across town. I had yet to find out if my new car could survive the trip at all. On the major plus side, I had a good time making the eggs. Any chance to cook is a good one, I figure.
        I did go and pick up my sis after mom left for work, learning that yes my car does have some problems driving in snow. Important part is that I got her and my four month old nephew to the house without skiding nor crashing anywhere. The hill was a major bitch to handle, though. We got into the driveway and it was clear what I'd be doing for the most of the afternoon/evening. So I went inside the house, began to suit up and was very easily talked into staying in for a while to watch tv with my sis who had at this point nearly thrown out her back.
       We watch some Rune Soldier, make some coffee, and generally enjoy the occasion until an hour passes and I have to get outside at last. Usual rule of thumb for snow is that it needs to be shoveled before my mom gets home. Not because she's a tyrant about it being done, but becuase it helps all the vehicles leave the driveway for our ease of getting to work.
        I enjoy the experience for a bit until I realize that my neighbors are kind of being assholes again. Nearly every person up on that hilltop has a snow blower and is using it to clear out their driveways. Here I am, huffing and hauling snow and not a single one of the dicks even acknowledges that I could use a hand. We've got one neighbor who'll pretty much use their blower and clear off every damn driveway in the cul de sac.....every one but our house. Pricks, but oh well.
        Off and on shoveling ensues (my dad taught me the appreciation of breaks often. For the sake of today where it's nicer out, I limit myself to about two) where I watch and episode of the anime, then resume my shoveling. I feel grungy afterwards, nothing that a god shower won't fix in a few minutes. But I feel good regardless because I did it in good time. Bad news is that I missed the opportunity to do other things, but again that's the breaks.

         All I needed to vent for now. Taking it easy as standard.

Andy

10:18pm:          Okay, third entry is done on a fairly recent time from the 2nd. Good deal. Not going to rant too much since I'm in fine spirits.Work, sucking as it is prone to do, took the most amount of my awake time today. I'm posting now just to get into the writing aspect and to relax after work.
It's going to be a good time tonight, I think. I have some creativity to boot and will get a picture or two up soon. I'm a little uncertain on what I want to put up since I haven't gotten around to copywriting any of the original characters I care for. Might need to look into that soon. 
         This surge of creativity may also yield a writing stint for some short stories I have planned. If done 'right', I could even put some into comic format (though I still lack the layout skills). I'll figure it out. 
        Not much else to write about, and I'm posting here so I don't harass the folks on the the other site I frequent. I should do it anyway...the message board has been kinda dead. 'Better strike while the iron is hot' or so they say. I'm off to accomplish.


Andy

11:49pm: Holy damn how I forget
              Yup. It's been over a year since I last posted on my lj. It wasn't intentional, but there really was no actual reason for it. I let it go and remembered in the back of my head that I had one. Guess I should stop trolling around the internet for no damn reason and get the life back in gear. Currently working at a Sam's club and slowly hating every minute of being there again. It's not X-mas season that gets to me, it's the way they mess around with my scheduling and pretend that I can handle all the changes without any stress.
                Sure...that makes perfect sense considering that they never tell me about the changes prior to it being written down. I work part time there, and almost every day (minus Tues. and Thurs.) You would think they'd have the balls to just ask me directly. The new manager explained that he just filled the spots that needed to be filled and the way he expressed it made me feel like an idiot.
This isn't the first time it's been done to me. Nor is it the first job where I've had this occur. It's not that I hate working at the place, but sometimes the way I'm treated gets me pissed. The best thing is to keep my head on my shoulders, possibly look for new employment, and relax when I get the time. The money is being used to pay off my school loans from a place I never graduated from.
                  Despite the negative way this is sounding, I'm in a generally good mood today. Kicked the butt out of a game I've been working on for the last week and even got a sketch drawn in. While not my absolute best work, (which I rarely can control my thoughts on because I am an artist; we don't like our own stuff often times...hypocrites) :P
This time, I'll try to keep a better mind towards this online venting diary. If it works the way I'm hoping it will, I'll get a touch more organized and have a better outlook.

That's about it for me,

Andy