My news, in short, is that I have decided to apply for Graduate school in Animation, I'm taking the semester off from CCAD, and I'm going to be in Alaska until May to work and save money.

( Anyone interested in the reasons why, click here and read on... )

Deep breath. Here I go.

So I frequent Cracked. Ever since the Internet Party video, I was sold that whoever runs that place is awesome.

For anyone not familiar, the site basically consists of cynical, extremely well written rants, generally in the form of lists (Top 5 Lies you were Taught in History Class, Top 5 Scariest Insects that Must be Stopped, etc.), the site is good for a laugh but never really anything more. Moreover, I always got the impression the site was run by horny (albeit well spoken) straight guys who do a lot of talking about how hot boobs are. However, they recently ran this article:

Orson Scott Card wants YOU (To Rise Up Against the Gay Menace)

Now let me start by saying that I love Ender's Game. LOVE it. The book is one of my favorites, definitely a sci fi classic. I had heard OSC wasn't too fond of gay people, but I didn't know how deep the sentiment ran. I was pretty sad to find that out such a brilliant author could have views so skewed as to suggest over-throwing the Government over the issue of gay rights. Makes me upset that people can be so short sighted, but I am the first to understand that when religious beliefs get intertwined into issues like this it's best not to even invest the emotions to react to it, it's a waste of time.


That said, what I WAS afraid of was the witty writers at Cracked would comment on this issue with indifference at best, or defending the author at worst.

Boy was I wrong.

KUDOS to the author for expressing the viewpoint that I still feel should be the status quo for a reaction to something like this. It's nice to know that even the snarky and boob-obsessed who have no investment in such issues can still come forward with a decent, supportive reaction. This humble cynic just gained a bit more hope for the human race, and he's pretty happy about it. :)

I will continue reading Cracked and pimping it even harder than I did before. Bravo.

Well, as promised, here is a gallery of the Best-Of photos from Patrick (shaggy brown-haired skinny kid), Bronwynn (pretty blonde classy girl) and Nate's (humble and swoop-haired narrator) summer's venture to Valdez, AK:

The Land that Refused To Allow in the Night EVER!!! (....until August)


Sorry, no captions since it's a web gallery >_> if ya want sidenotes, check out my Facebook page, plus an added bonus of the gallery of pics from Valdez in wintertime to compare! :D (If you do have facebook, those galleries are probably a bit more satisfying to check out...the commentary does do a bit to explain what we are actually doing in the photos and at what level of 'I want to kill Patrick for getting us in over our heads' I am at at any particular moment ^_^;;;)

I hope these pics do something to get across the amazing beauty of the land and the incredible stupidity of the adventures we undertook trying not to die while adventuring within it. Getting lost on a glacier for three hours? Less fun than it sounds...

34 - 35 - 36 - 37

Four new pages of leveL background-less goodness! The plot thickens with every limb our fearless hero loses! ^_^

Enjoy the update, and for those who are missing the environments, fear not! The next update should satiate....mwahahaha

WELL. Bronwynn, Patrick and I are all safely arrived in Anchorage after 12 hours of flying (uuuuuuugh).

We are currently figuring out how to get to the guy's house we are spending the night at, then leaving for the 6 hour drive to Valdez tomorrow morning. Rawk.

Details to follow as the happen, but as a first impression: Alaska looks totally different than over New Years...somebody put green all over the place O_o

Aight, I gotta go catch a cab. Lates.

Finally finished some new Little Nates for the leveL update rants.

( A complete psychological profile of this humble journal-er resides within. )

And P.S. this song is so awesome o_o Highly recommend this band. Good summer=happy music ^_^

THREE NEW PAGES OF REAGAN DOING WHAT SHE DO BEST!

Thus ends the talky section of this episode! Prepare for rising action and a lot of disturbing imagry! :D

A few things to point out:

I am halfway through Sigur Ros's new album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. So far it's different than the others. It most reminds me of Takk, but whereas that album was a joyous, childlike outpouring, this one is a more reserved happy. Warm. I dunno, the point is there is new Sigur Ros and I am sooooooooooo happy :D



Speaking of media intake, I finished the latest Battelstar Galactica episode.
Ho. Ly. Shit.

( Spoil'd-ness Review! )

-------

I have also recently been on an exercise kick. Been running 4-5 miles a day for about two weeks (and boy do my joints hurt!). I haven't worked out this much since I was a Freshman at Miami....it feels really good, I'd forgotten how fun it is to run a trail multiple times and kinda get to know the lay of the land. Hopefully I can keep it up.

What inspired this running gig? Well, the impending Alaska trip, mostly. It's gonna be entirely different than when I went in Winter. Mostly due to the 20 hours of daylight. Meaning lots of outdoor activity....hiking, rafting, climbing, camping.....and I wanna kinda be able to enjoy it without being really tired or anything. Oh man, I am so pumped. LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!

And for the leveL readers out there, the update is nearing completion. There was a bit of a hiccup due to a couple things. I took a trip down to CIncinnati, Patrick's family came to visit, AND Photoshop decided to be a bitch and freeze on me not once but TWICE while trying to ink the most difficult panel in the update. I had to redraw it three times, and it took a lot longer than it should have ._. But fear not! We will have new pages soon...

Well. Hi there.

I know it's been awhile...for those of you unsure of what's going on; I'm Nate :)

I'm happy to say life has finally slowed down enough that I actually have time to reflect and write an entry. With any luck the first of many....

So art school boot camp is over! I successfully made it through the Foundation Program at CCAD, and whoa was it a kick in the pants. The program is kind of (in)famous for swallowing people's lives whole, and more than a few don't make it through. On the plus side it's also considered one of the best foundation programs in the country, so making it out alive was definitely rewarding. Not only that, but I was able to come out with a 4.0 average for the entire year....first time that's ever happened, haha, but I definitely worked hard to deserve it. Without question I did more work in this one year than in the entire time it took me to get my first degree o_o yah.

As well as getting straight As, I also got a lot of work featured in the Student Exhibition....so if anyone finds themself in Columbus at any point this summer, head over to CCAD and see if you can pick out some of my stuff X)

Seriously though, I might sound a bit 'tooting my own horn', but this year was incredibly important for me. Until now art was always just a self-taught hobby, I had no idea if I would crash or burn in the 'training to be a professional' art world. It was incredibly satisfying and encouraging to do so well. I feel like I am definitely headed in the right direction with my career. Confidence in myself is something I don't normally run across...

So now I'm out of school for 4 months, which is still surreal even just a few weeks in. Most importantly, I have been able to jump-start leveL, which was a huge thing missing in my life during school (oh, and for anyone worried that I will go AWOL again in September, no chance. The first year is the intense-kill-you-with-work year. Next semester I will have the free time to pursue side projects such a certain webcomics XD)

At this point my second job (the high school lighting design gig) is also on break for the summer. I am only working at the pub now....which I hate, btw. Looking desperately for a replacement job, but I think it looks like I'm gonna be stuck there for the summer. Why is that? Well....

...I am planning to go back to Alaska in July :D!!! The 5th to the 21st, to be exact. Coupled with that a possible week-long gig as a camera operator at a summer camp, I don't have the ability to approach employers and say 'hire me! ps, seeya in a month :D' Much as I hate the pub, it is at this point a necessary evil.

But yes, Alaska should be much fun and a good reward for the year. Going with Patrick (Tenebrous to any who may know him by that name), to stay with his family again. Also we were able to talk our good friend Bronwynn into tagging along. The three of us are going to have a huge blast. White water rafting, kayaking, hiking, bouldering. I. CAN'T. WAIT.

Beyond that? Not a lot to report, haha. Am currently trying to figure out exactly what my living situation will be for the next school year.....more on that topic as I find out :\

Oh. Another thing I am seriously considering is what I am going to do post-art-school. It is looking more and more like I am going to have to relocate. I like Columbus and all, but the scenery isn't much. The biggest plus it has is my family living here....I am weird in that I like to have them within arm's reach, heh. Meaning moving will be a hard thing to do again.

But moving seems it's going to have to happen in order to get any job close to what I'd like to do. The west coast is pretty much where it all happens. However, I really don't know that I could do L.A......nothing against it, I just don't think I want to live there. The area of the country I really want to live is the Northwest. Currently high on my list of thoughts are Portland, Seattle and San Francisco. My sister is saying she's down with the idea of moving there with me...that would be in a year, cause she has to finish her internship in Charlotte. If that were to work out it would do a lot to help me adjust to being permanently on the other side of the continent as the rest of my family. We'll see, we'll see.

So yeah.

That's about it. Consider yourself updated on my life X) Hopefully the next entry will be a bit less life-summary, haha.



Anyhow, what have YOU been up to?

Unlike previously thought, leveL might in fact end up being a terminal illness for Nate o_o

Two new pages for everyone to munch on.

Oi, the backgrounds, they hurt my head x_X

OK, I'm going to say it....

Cloverfield is essentially a long episode of LOST.

Before you see it, you're extremely jazzed up about it. You watch it, you really enjoy it, you think its awesome. Then, when its over and and the effect wears off, you go 'hey wait a minute....I know absolutely no more about the story than i did before i watched this...'

And you feel hungary for more.

...and you resent it.




Not to say that i didn't think the movie was awesome, original and worth seeing......but it's just I was so excited to go and see a complete, closed off, finalized storyline from J. J. Abrams...

...guess I'll have to wait >_>

LEVEL HAS RETURNED!!!

OK OK, it's only one page, but it marks the rebirth! Get ready to be mind raped all over again :D


....and Nate is in Alaska. Further explanation to come, but for now photo evidence and details of said subjectcan be font on the leveL main page.

My workload from school has taken over my life in a way I didn't think possible o_o;;; Having two jobs on the side doesn't really help either, but just in case anyone thought I was dead.....no, I'm not.

leveL is also officially on hiatus until December 15th, when I'm on winter break. I was hoping I could keep it up in some form during school, but the workload is so much that I am barely even getting sleep. Literally.

Don't let that give you the wrong idea though, I looooove school. I'm doing really well, learning lots, and I've made a pretty good group of friends as well :D

All other aspects of life are going extremely well also...my jobs are pretty rewarding. I wish I could quit the serving job, but it's only on fridays (even if that is supposed to be my only free day ._.), and I make a killing. Maybe next semester I'll be able to go down to just the lighting design job...

All I really want is more hours in the day. Oh, and an unending supply of cash would be nice too ^_^

In Rainbows

NEW LEVEL REDUX PAGE

Yes, it lives. This beach scene was beyond a biznatch to color, I hopes you all like it ^_^ ...and that it's a bit of an improvement on the old version. Now that that Goliath is out of the way, I can continue on both the Redux and the normal Episode 5 pages.

(EDIT: Fixed the link to the original beach page ^^;;)


(and in case any are interested, he's the clean version)

22 - 23 - 24

Three new pages of rip-roaring ripping in the broken little mind of Cael!

Hope no one goes to pieces trying to crack what's up in this update (two puns in one sentence! OH I am good! :D)

Oh, and on a sidenote:

(Three new pages of leveL are done)

My characters are so well adjusted and tolerant, no?

Three new leveL pages begin here!

Come for the white expanse, stay for the inky black monster <3

SEVEN PAGES OF LEVEL JUST IN TIME FOR OUR RISEN LORD!!!

Enjoy the two-part update, don't let the pink lights hurt you, they are hypnotic eeeeeevil.


(Speaking of: Morhout, this one goes out to you -- the pink medical lamp is what your dining room lamp inspired. I told you I was gonna draw it! :D)