If you look at the nifty calander to the right there, you’ll note every single weekday is a pretty shade of blue. That means I have successfully updated the official blog every day I said I would! Now, for many this might not seem like much, but it makes me proud of myself that I didn’t fall behind, as I do so often in my work.

And with that I should be getting back to work. You know, so I’m not late on this Friday’s updates.

August has now come to a close, and with it I always say farewell to summer. September is a miserable month for me, because all my life it meant the return of school (as it does for most kids) and end of freedom. Of course, I will not have to return to school ever again, unless I choose to, but old habits die hard. So I do not particularly welcome September, and the miserable weather it will no doubt bring with it. However it does means we’re that much closer to the release of Wii (Nintendo’s new gaming console for anyone who happens to not know) so that’s something to be happy about.

For those of you who are returning to school, or already have over the last few weeks, I offer this: One day you will no longer have a summer vacation, will get paid (probably) to do what you want to do with your life, and will never have to deal with the torture that is homework ever again. So keep at it, and good luck in the 2006-07 year.

I will finish out this entry with an update to those yesterday numbers. Note this is probably one of the only times I’ll do this again. It’s hard to judge them.
FredtheMonkey.com Mailbag 37: 45% complete
Cubetoons Level 38: 20% complete
(This is of 12AM Thursday morning)

As you can see, Thursday is a work-like-crazy day where a WHOLE lot of the cartoons and comics come together. That means it is hard for me to use this system of percentages, because every day the ammount that gets done changes. The majority of Cubetoons is done over the Thursday-Friday period, before it is due. What can I say, I really am an artist.

Also, a large portion of my afternoon yesterday was taken up doing the logo design for the next project of mine, namely the Chibi Comic that I discussed earlier. Should I give you the title? No, I think that will wait for tomorrow. =)

Yesterday I came upon a great deal of traffic while driving. This is not an uncommon thing, but it was backed up much farther than most days, and I am not a particular fan of traffic. How people can sit in it every single weekday on their way to the office is beyond me. I’d go crazy. Well, crazier.

Anyway, I’ve discovered that I much prefer taking the long route with fewer cars than the shorter, and even perhaps less time-consuming, path that could be mistaken for a parking lot. So I proceeded to use the knowledge gathered from 25 years of living in the exact same place to plot a different course, completely in the other direction and around some mountains in order to get less than a mile from my original starting point.

I’m curious as to how many other people do such things. I imagine not many, because every single day the freeway is bumper to bumper with cars, trucks, and SUVs (which to me are neither cars nor trucks). I would guess if everyone had my opinion of traffic, there would be much more traffic, because everyone would take the long way to avoid the original traffic and thereby block every two lane winding road through residential neighborhoods.

Which, now that I think about it, would be much better, because then the freeway would be clear and open for me to use.

As a PS.-sort-of note, Q has suggested that I end every blog entry with the status of my weekly work, so people have an idea of how things are going with the Fred/Cubetoons updates. I think she’s out of her mind. However, just for today, I’ll do such a thing.
FredtheMonkey.com Mailbag 37: 22% complete
Cubetoons Level 38: 14.5% complete

And just looking at those dreadful numbers makes me realise if I don’t get working right this second, I’m doomed.

You forget the password and login to your website. Seriously, I don’t know what’s been wrong with me, but Cubetoons.com is in some serious need of updatin’! Level 32 is the latest comic?! Not last time I checked! Ah well, I’ll just have to wait and call Q on her lunch break to check what I’m supposed to type in the username box.

While we’re on the topic of Cubetoons.com, I think it needs to be updated more often than just the new comics on Friday. If that means more reviews, or actual editorials that we should be doing anyway, I don’t know… It just seems there’s little reason to visit the homepage anymore. Or how about those art tutorials I always plan on doing and then get too busy! That would be good too.

So feel free, the next time you see me on the forums, to get on my case about updates. It’s okay. I can take it. I need to get my butt in gear anyway. All these weeks off have made me not want to get back into the swing of things, and that just isn’t going to work. Let’s get this party re-started!

To Do:

-Grocery Shopping for the week
-Laundry and change bedding
-Cleaning of the disaster I call a room (note: impossible)
-Update Ct.com so it isn’t still on Level 32
-Work on the Fred update that was supposed to be done
-Go to bank to cash check so electricity stays on
-Menu planning for dinners Mon-Sun
-Wash car if rain stays in clouds
-Water plants if rain stays in clouds
-Attend late afternoon meeting if rain stays in clouds
-Go to library to return books before $70 in late fees
-If time, do a little Chibi comic work as well (actually fun)

I really would like to see it rain today. Thunderstorms, downpours, even a light sprinkling would do if it was constant.

At any rate, I better get to it.

The weekend is almost here. I myself am glad. This has been a lousy week of being sick.

Regardless, I’m sure people want some updates on the updates, eh? Here’s the lowdown. Cubetoons Level 37 is well underway and will be sent to Boz (since I believe Matt is in Germany) in the afternoon. Helps if you know what’s been going on since Leipzig, which is that crazy people are saying Nintendo is doomed (yes, again) because they didn’t announce a ton of info at the show. Crazy…

As for Fred, my throat is finally back to normal, but I can’t record and finish a cartoon in one day (well I could but it would be short and crappy) so Mailbag next week. However, I’ll work on getting something done as an update for the site, so look forward to that later in the day as well.

And in other news, before I go to bed this evening, I’m going to jot down some ideas for the first random-Chibi comic that I talked about in this blog entry: http://fredthemonkey.com/blog/?p=15
I don’t know how long one will take to complete, but it should be on the horizon I suppose. I’ll be sure to post a link in a blog entry when it is done. I’d guess not for a while though, since I need to flesh out the main characters. I have a sort-of plot. An idea anyway.

And that’s about it really. Not much else to report. I’m going to try and get Cubetoons.com updated so all the latest comics are there, since I know we’ve fallen behind with that. And maybe we can get some new reviews in there as well, or an art tutorial (remember those?). It’s almost time for a few new avatars to hit the forums too.

So have a great weekend everybody, and I’ll keep checking in on comments over the next few days before the new blog post bright and early Monday! Later!

Yay for no more sore throat!

Looks like I’m well on the road to recovery today. Which is a good thing, but also not such a good thing because I’ve got no update for tomorrow! Ah well, I’ll think of something. And chances are very good that next week everything will be back to normal and you can count on Sceb’s return to the Mailbag!

As for today’s blog entry, it was late compared to normal, because I went to sleep last night instead of writing it then. Probably a good thing.

So, now then, what to actually talk about. I do believe I had a topic, but now I really don’t remember.

So instead, let me ask a question. How many people would be interested in a FredtheMonkey.com contest? Basically, it would be for designing something for the toons (don’t want to let out what yet) and the winner would have their work featured on the website. Good idea? Bad idea? I’m thinking the two runner-ups would also have their ideas displayed in an upcoming Mailbag or something.

So give me some feedback, and tell your friends, and they can also give me some feedback, and if there is a reasonable interest level, we’ll get started on setting it up!

One of the biggests problems I have with being sick (see yesterday’s post) is that a sore throat means I’m basically limited in Fred toon voices to just good ol’ Space Chicken. Fred I might be able to pull off for a few minutes, Sceb hurts way too much to attempt, and you can forget about Cadberry altogether. This means I really have to rest up and get better before major cartoon work can begin.

Sometimes I find ways around such things. The Flash Tutorial (which now that I think about it still needs to be put back up with the new site design) was done during one of the sick weeks when SC was the only one I could manage for a long recording session. So if this week’s Mailbag stars SC, you’ll know why.

In other news, there is very little other news. The school year has begun for some students, I noted as I walked by several hundred extremely unhappy kids today. They were back to that dreadful march into the prisons this country has set up to hold them while they fight through the troubling times that are childhood.

I can see the merit in Elementary school, as it teaches basic “everyone needs to know these things to live or you will be screwed” information, but I never quite grasped High School and most of Middle School. These parts of a youngster’s educational years are so full of crap that they seem quite useless to me. Why not just change high school into a pre-college, where young hopefuls can choose their life’s path and realise early enough (and without paying $30,000) that what they have chosen is absolutely horrible and change majors 5 times. Then when they GET to college, they’ll have sorted through those issues and be ready for what they ACTUALLY want to do with their proffessional careers.

Good plan? I think so. Heck, it would have saved me a few thousand dollars…

I appear to be plauged with a sickness that just won’t quite go away. I’ll feel completely better for about 2 minutes, and finally be glad it’s gone, but then symptoms come right back. Throat, head, back, everything hurts. Not to mention the fever near 100. And frankly I’m getting sick of it. (Pun half-heartedly intended…)

So now I feel that I have two options:
1) Go back to bed. I personally hate this option, because sleep + daylight = a very groggy and unhappy me. I just don’t like sleeping in the daytime. I used to, back in my younger years. Now I’d rather work. I’m not a workaholic. Honest.

2) Pretend I’m not sick. In my family, full of people who work (we’re not workaholics), when someone was under the weather that didn’t stop anything. You just put it aside, said “I’m fine” (even if you had a fever of 102 and thought all the doors in the house were ponies), and continued on your daily routine. Maybe had an extra cup of tea to take the edge off.

I’m pretty much at ‘doors into ponies’ state right now, which would make an interesting cartoon come to think of it, but the choice still stands before me. I know what most of the people at the Fred/Cubetoons forums would say: Take a vacation. And to that I would return with a witty and well timed response to end out this blog entry, but those darn ponies are just too distracting…

There is little more enraging than finding out that the gift card you just found with $50 on it is worthless, due to a tiny expiration date stamped on the bottom corner. So many dreams of purchasing things… gone. Well… I guess it’s like they say, easy come easy go.

But then, the people who say that probably didn’t have a blog to declare their outrage. This is what is wrong with gift cards. “They’re good as cash!” the people who make them will tell you. Well that’s funny, last time I checked a ten dollar bill didn’t go bad, even if you stuffed it in a drawer for 20 years. I once had a Media Play gift card that, after 6 months, they began taking money away from every day. I was pretty mad. I danced at the closing of their stores. Our music director bought R2D2: The Movie very, very cheap while I was dancing.
I suppose these things happen though. And I’m no worse off than two days ago before I found the card. Except of course that now I hate Bank of America. But other than that, same old same old. Still far behind on the things due today, namely a new Mailbag and a Cubetoons comic. I really need to get to work. REALLY need to get to work…

And so ends this entry to the ol’ blog, me none the richer. This weekend’s plan includes 10 hours straight of playing 99 Nights. And ice cream. So hopefully it will be less dissapointing than having to say goodbye to what would have been a very useful fifty dollars.