Dragon Dragging

Another year older, another year of realizing just how foolish I am. It was my birthday last week and I thought, now would be a good time to evaluate myself on the goals I set back in January. So here’s the reader’s digest summery of my objectives and how I’m doing on each one.

1. Get my EMT- This one, unfortunately, hasn’t gotten off the ground yet. I was trying to get into a local program but the class was already in session for a couple of weeks when I called about it. I still want to get it though. Not so much to get a job with it, more so because I want know what to do if a situation were to arise, instead of standing around with a dumb look with my finger up my nose.

2. Begin learning to play the violin- I have purchased a violin, or “renting” one, but will eventually be paying it off. I’ve learned the proper hand and chin positions and can play a shaky ‘three blind mice’. I found a good site on-line that offers in-depth instructional videos and I’m planning on starting on that soon.

3. Publish two short stories or a book- I have a couple of short stories written, but haven’t finished editing them yet. Just need to push myself a little harder on that.

4. Read through the Standard Works- I’m half way through the Old Testament right now and after that my goal will be completed.

5. Overcome social anxiety/ make some friends- Honestly, I’ve sort of neglected this one. I do have the desire to hang out with friends and such every once in a while, it’s just I like my alone time even more. I’m going to get back into church institute this summer, as soon as I find out when registration is, and hopefully things will start moving then.  

6. Become at least conversant in Japanese- I am happy to say I am improving steadily in this goal. I ordered the Pimsleur Approach program back in February and I’ve been working through the CDs with consistency. However, it’s only focusing on the spoken language. So later I’ll need to find something that’ll teach me to read and write it.

7. Go to Japan- Last November, I heard that the Japanese government were giving away free round-trip tickets in April to a number of people who would be willing to visit Japan and blog about the time they spent there. They were doing this because tourism took a harsh drop in Japan during the aftermath of the Tsunami and Fukushima power plant incident. However, I haven’t found anything on that since. If anyone knows any details about that, let me know, please!

8. Go back to school in the Fall- I have the money saved up, now I just need to study up so I can pass that #$@! Math exam so I can make it to a class that actually gives me credit this time!

9. Read fifty books- I’m going a little slow right now; mostly because of this new job I’m working that’s making me work 10 hour days. Since January I’ve read only five books, so I need to step up on that as well.

 10. Have a fully written journal- This one has been suffering big time also. I think the reason I find it hard to keep a journal is because my life is exasperatingly boring. I’d might as well write about a day in the life of a blade of grass, that’s how dull it is.

Well, I’ve definitely got some work ahead of me. Hopefully things will start progressing a little faster here in a bit. In the mean time, I’ll just keep chugging along. I’ve got new ideas and projects I’m working on to keep me busy. Like my Monster Mash idea, that it blooming nicely in my head and on paper. More on that and other things that really don’t carry any significance whatsoever to you, after these short messages… :P

Blast from the Past: Pokémon!

This is for all those ten year olds back in the late ‘90s who were addicted, and maybe still are, to the Japanese phenomenon that took America and the world by storm, Pokémon. I remember when I was in fifth grade, and we used to trade those little pocket monster cards like they were currency. If Pokémon cards were currency, many of us would have been some of the greatest entrepreneurs in existence! But as with most things from childhood, the cards and video games get thrown away, lost, or packed away in some shoe box in the attic. However, my cards from over a decade now, have remained on the bottom level of my bookshelf that my little brothers like to look at occasionally.

While on a trip to St. George, Utah, my brother and I were arguing over the finer points of Avatar: The Last Airbender compared to Naruto. . . In other words it was a geek brawl, which is always a good way to spend an evening. Anyways, we were going on with that when we got onto the subject of Pokémon. We began talking about how the critters “could” be real and what a movie would be like with “realistic” Pocket monsters. We got talking about it again last night and I decided I wanted to draw some sketches of a few Pokémon with realistic characteristics. Below are five Pokémon that I drew up combining animal concepts and draping them over the basis set up by the Nintendo creators, along with card comparisons of each one. 

 The first I drew was Bulbasaur because he is the first on the list of Pokemon. When making Bulbasaur I used frog, lizard and even elephant concepts to make something as close to the card as I could.

 When I finished Bulbasaur, I realized I needed more of a challange, which is why I decided to try Diglett out. In the cards, video games and cartoon, all you ever see of Diglett is his head popping out of the ground. So here's my interpretation of Diglett in his entirety. I based him off ground hogs and prairie dogs with a more canine nose.

 Of course Pikachu had to be in the mix somewhere. Even though the card depicts him as a 'mouse' Pokémon, I had always seen him more as a cross between a rabbit and a ferret. His tail was dificult to create a realistic version of so I came up wit hthe idea that his tail is normally soft and fox-like unless electricity is surging through his fur, then it takes on that more lightning bolt look.

My first Pokémon card was Charmander and he has always had a place in my heart ever since. The reptilian features was a no brainer but I also based his build on the pachycephalosaurus, or in other words, those head butting dinosaurs.

 Now here was a challenge! Humanoid Pokémon like Mr. Mime I knew would be a problem since Pokémon are animals, not people. So I based him off a chimpanzee and a baboon. I put color to this one so that I could better picture what he'd look like.

So that's all the pics for now. I'm going to try and draw a more complete version of the three starter Pokémon in the first games, Charmander, Bulbasuar and Squirtle. Until then, give me some feed back if you'd like. Critiques are always welcome!