I can count the number of video games I’ve beaten as an adult (with and without the help of walkthroughs) on one hand…

1) Pokemon Snap
2) Super Mario 64
3) Gauntlet Dark Legacy

It’s possible there are others, but I doubt it. Mostly I play games to relax, and when they start making me uptight I quit and do something else.

Yesterday evening I picked back up on the Metroid Prime game I’d abandoned back at 18% completion (or something like that). The kids gathered round, and I’ve had a good old time figuring out where all the buttons are again.

Then this evening the game again got sticky and difficult, fighting some dang rock monster boss in blinding snow. I may be ready to give it up again and go do something else.

(No, I don’t need your hints. I’ve already paged through several walkthroughs, and if I play MP any further, it’ll be walkthrough all the way.)

–Howard

Today I finished the last two commercial commissions for the project I’ve been grinding away at for the last month. It feels pretty good.

It feels “I want to go have a party” good, in fact.

Unfortunately, I forged three days ahead of deadline on that project at the expense of doing any buffer-fu today. *sigh*. Like I said before, there’s always more work to do than there is me to do it with. So… no party today. Maybe tomorrow I can get chalain to break out the chaos toys.

–Howard

I made another batch of curried Top Ramen today. It goes like this:

1) crush the ramen noodles in the package, and boil them with two tbsp curry powder, a handful of raisins, a handful of crushed walnuts, and a handful of pistachio kernels.
2) Add about 2 tbsp of dehydrated onion to soak up the rest of the water (there won’t be much if you only start with about 12 oz.)
3) Move to a fry pan — sautee the noodle mess in a little olive oil. Add a dozen drops of Blair’s Sudden Death Sauce.
4) Serve.

I split the serving in half, and refrigerated half for later. I then plowed through the bowl in front of me, and loved it. That was at noon.

This evening I got out the second half, and figured it wasn’t hot enough. After microwaving them, I added a half teaspoon or so of the Blair’s sauce and stirred that in. The noodles now had a sullen red tinge to them.

This time it was hot enough, and then some. My nose is running, my eyes itch, and my mouth feels scalded. My great big dome of a head is still sweaty, and my stomach is suggesting that perhaps he’s reached his capsicum limit for the week. In short, I feel wonderful. I’m ready to go out to eat with chalain.

That must be the endorphins speaking.

–Howard

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if I’ve done enough work in any given day.

I know, I know… for somebody who’s never missed a day of updating, and for whom updating the comic is now a full-time job, it should be pretty EASY to tell. I mean, as long as the updates are on time and there’s room in the buffer for me to get sick, I’m doing enough, right?

Well, right now there ISN’T enough room in the buffer for me to get sick. It’s down to 12 days, and has dropped to single digits several times in the last month. I’ve been hovering between 8 and 12 for what seems like an eternity, but is really more like “ever since Linucon.”

Thus, I need a system whereby I can tell myself that only after such-and-such is complete can I be done working for the day. Said system must support the concept of “weekend,” too.

Here’s the system I conjured up while driving home from Boise:

Three times every weekday I must take three rows of Schlock Mercenary through one of the three major stages of completion.

Confused?

Stage one is scripting.
Stage two is pencil-and-ink.
Stage three is coloring.

Today I succeeded in my goal. I scripted a three row Sunday (three rows through the scripting stage), pencilled and inked the preceding Thursday-through-Saturday (three rows through the pencil-and-ink stage), and scripted three weekdays (three rows through the scripting stage.)

Tomorrow I have the following on the work-a-la-carte menu:
1) 9 rows await coloring.
2) 6 rows await pencil-and-ink.
3) Scripting… there’s not much limit on that.

This system prevents me from getting bored, helps me keep the various queues full of things to do, and (assuming I stick with it) forces me to add 2/3rds of a week to the buffer with every work week that passes. More importantly, it helps prevent burnout. If I keep the time-consuming pencil-and-ink down to three rows a day, I can have my 9 rows worth of work done in three hours or less.

So… what do I do with the REST of the day? Right now it’s commercial work and the odd commission. Oh, and managing the business, monitoring the forums, and reading, reading, reading so that this strip stays smart and fresh.

I think this system can work. I really, REALLY need to get the buffer back up above 21. If I stick with this systemt for all the November weekdays (except Thanksgiving!) I’ll have cranked out 5 weeks of Schlock in just over three weeks. That’ll add 12 to the current buffer, which brings me back over 21. And I’ll have done it without burning out or going crazy.

–Howard “arguably, I already AM crazy” Tayler