The Return of the Comics

A few of you may remember Escape from Camp Artemis, the short comic I put together a couple of years ago. A 12-page story about two girls who escape from summer camp, the comic was put together as part of a class I took at Meltdown Comics. The project was a fun one, and I was happy with the result; it was nice to have a little story that I could hand out and share with friends. Many people really enjoyed seeing it, and my instructor encouraged me to keep making more comics after the class was over.

While I had ideas for fun follow-up projects, it's been hard to muster the energy to get them off the ground. It can take a lot of effort to even create an individual piece of art; it is even more intimidating to commit to a project that involves putting together story outlines, designing characters and environments, writing dialogue, creating dozens of individual drawings, and finding a way to display them on a page in a way that flows and serves the story. And, because you have to stick with the same style and designs for the entirety of a project, it is easy to become critical of your preliminary designs and ideas, leading to inertia.

The Little Things

I think everyone goes through times when they're feeling a little overwhelmed, either because achieving their goals is dependent on factors outside their control (e.g., other peoples' choices or material factors they can't change), or because the ultimate goal is so large that any efforts to accomplish it don't seem to have an effect. In these situations, it's sometimes helpful to figure out something small and easily-achievable you can do to improve your life, even in a minor way. These minor efforts might even evolve into regular or semi-automatic habits, subtly but continually improving your productivity or general well-being.

This is probably one of the reasons why rituals of all kinds can be appealing; they can offer reassurance that a person is making regular progress, even if it isn't noticeable. Even if the rituals don't actually have any effect, they can still provide a person with a sense of control over their lives and problems and serve as a source of comfort.

Laptop Traveling

Recently, after hearing about Geoguessr in various places, I decided to try my hand at it. If you haven't heard about it, it's an Internet-based game that makes use of Google Street View; the five-round game places you in an unknown location, and you have to look around the environment and figure out where you are.

There are two ways to play the game: (1) trying to guess a location purely by looking at the environment and picking up context clues, and (2) using Internet research to more precisely pinpoint where you are.

I tend to prefer the latter approach, which makes the game more involved, though there are some cases where you need to make a more general guess because you can't find anything specific enough to use as the basis of your search (because the image quality is low enough that text isn't legible, because the writing you come across uses a different alphabet, or because you're given a limited area to wander through). It's interesting to scour around for clues, both obvious (road signs, store names) and less obvious (telephone area codes, semi-unique buildings), and see if you can figure out your position by cross-referencing that information online.

Once you've finished five rounds, you are given an aggregate score based on how accurate your guesses were (so far, my top score is 32,044 points).

Still, the point of the game is not really about getting a high score. First of all, some locations are simply easier to find than others, because they are in less remote areas, or because there are more clues around to aid you.

More importantly, the true enjoyment of the game is about researching these locations, learning a little bit of information about various regions of the world, and finding some interesting locations along the way. It gives you an opportunity to appreciate the diversity of many countries, outside of the largest cities and most well-known monuments.

The game, of course, is not perfect. Because Street View hasn't mapped every corner of the globe, there are large portions of Asia, Africa, and South America that aren't covered by the game. I would also like to see a version of the game that allowed you to modify settings, so you could, for example, avoid being placed on empty stretches of road or choose not to be placed in U.S. locations.

In any event, I'm glad that something like Geoguessr exists, and that it has given me a chance to explore different corners of the globe.

Tracking and Motivation: Daily Tracker, Way of Life, and Promodoro

It can sometimes be tricky to motivate myself, particularly under circumstances where I don't have an external structure to keep me focused on finishing (or even starting) a task. For example, if I'm working on an art project, I am the only person who is going to hold myself accountable, and it can be easy to let things slide. So, in an effort to make the most of my free time, I've been experimenting with various apps and other methods which can impose a little bit of structure on personal endeavors.

I've previously mentioned using List Master as a method of tracking expenses and other personal stats. While I still find that app very useful (particularly because it is highly customizable), I have been experimenting with apps that allow me to track my progress in a somewhat more sophisticated fashion.

Daily Tracker is, essentially, a one-size-fits-all app that allows a person to track various aspects of their lives. Though there are many apps which enable users to track their progress in various endeavors (for example, a dedicated fitness tracker or finance tracker), Daily Tracker allows you to create and customize a variety of lists (with different settings and list types), which can allow you to organize and track different aspects of your life. The tracker can function as a timer, a checklist, a notebook, or a more traditional list, depending on the parameters you set.

The Republic of Yogaland

When I was in high school, the gym program offered the then-novel option of yoga classes, and, as a sport-phobe, I gravitated toward it as a gym class alternative which seemed less intense and competitive than the team sports I would have otherwise participated in. I remember the class itself being pretty enjoyable; however, I didn't continue to practice yoga after my high school graduation.

Earlier this month, I came across the "Pocket Yoga" app and decided to try it out on a lark. I have been surprised at how much use I've gotten out of it already, and am hoping that I'll be able to make it part of my monthly routine.

The app provides five basic routines, including two sets of sun salutations and three different practice types (Ocean, Desert, and Mountain). The practices have different focuses, with Ocean as the "cardio" practice, Desert geared towards flexibility and relaxation, and Mountain geared towards building strength.

Art in Progress

A few days ago, I just finished drawing a detailed landscape in Photoshop. It is always exciting to finish something ambitious, but it is also exciting to see the piece develop along the way and to see hints of what the end result will look like.

Sometimes it is frustrating to work on a piece for a long time without sharing your progress along the way, since I sometimes get excited when I finish working on a major component of a piece or have added a nice element that I am proud of, and I have an urge to show off the incomplete picture. Nonetheless, it is usually best to keep the picture under wraps and let the desire to share motivate me to finish my work.

Reciperfection

Another recipe, courtesy of Epicurious:

Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Ingredients (4 servings):

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 1/2 pound total) 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 4 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1/4 cup drained sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil; 1/2 ounce), patted dry and coarsely chopped 
• 3/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes 
• 1/4 cup dry white wine 
• 3/4 cup chicken broth 
• 1/4 cup heavy cream 
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

Recipe:

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and black pepper. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken, turning once, about 6 minutes total. (Chicken will not be cooked through.) Transfer with tongs to a plate.