Tag: weekly roundup

The Ballad of the Red Cart

Resting on a sheet of ice
until Winter plays nice,
the Red Cart stands its frosty ground.

Before the ballad begins, I need to inform you all that my hard drive recently kicked the bucket. It had served me for a good, solid six years. I salute you old friend! Anyone who is computer savvy knows what that means. For those who aren’t: it basically means all of my programs are gone until I can dig through piles of discs tucked away in boxes. I mostly just need Photoshop and Word.

Without Photoshop, I can’t do my digital drawings. The red cart was drawn with my fingers on a tablet…>.>

Digital commissions are on a temporary hiatus (paper commissions are still a go though!).

The Ballad of the Red Cart
There is a large pond with decorative fountains at one of the shopping centers the bus passes every morning. This winter has been a cold one, even for northern standards. It didn’t take long for the beautiful pond to freeze over.

For the past month or two, there has been a lonely red cart sitting on the sheet of ice that was once a glorious body of water. It is there day in and day out in the same spot, never sinking and never sliding. I don’t think there are any souls brave enough to venture out onto the ice to retrieve it. What may be a proper resting place for a lonely cart may be a cold and wet morning of misery for a 100+ pound human being.

It’s one of those amusing staples of my morning and afternoon routine, but now that temperatures are rising, I may not see my lonely red friend Tuesday morning when I go back to work! The ice finally began to melt Friday morning, and by Friday afternoon, it’s front was tilted downwards, held up by a thick icy slush.

It begs one to wonder how many carts are at the bottom of the pond.

Weekly Roundup: I Haz Contest and Catch-up Bowl MMXV

After working 10 days in a row and fighting off a nasty cold, I am finally back to the random whims of what we call free time!
The painting used in this graphic is Daydreaming by Edward Harrison May.

Catch-up Bowl MMXV
I enjoy my job, but running a work marathon without a day off gets to you. The nasty cold didn’t help matters either! By the end of it, I was neckbearding my evenings away by binge watching trashy shows on Netflix.

Oh how I missed revising my “Omg, orcs!” book! I was too drained to even look at the thing
.

Now that everything seems normal with my schedule, *knock on wood* I’m hoping to jump back into my routine. I’ll tell you what though, today I’ve been that daydreaming woman in that painting! I slept in late and haven’t accomplished a thing except for this post.

I don’t have a catchy transition sentence to jump to the fact that I liked my OMG orcs! drawing so much that I did a Delenn (from Babylon 5) version and a special V-Day contest Star Trek red shirt edition.

[ Insert flashy transition sentence here ]
V-Day contest and giveaway!
I am giving away a signed copy of The Year is Now OR a free digital drawing* (winner’s choice) to the person who has the best caption for Red Shirt Girl!
How to Enter:
1. Message me on Facebook, through the contact form on the right, or email me (thecommanddeck [at] outlook [dot] com) with our dear Red Shirt’s caption.
2. Use V Day Contest as the subject
3. If you want to edit the image and insert your caption in the speech bubble, you are more than free to do so! Send the image as an attachment.
All entries must be received by 15 February, 2015!
Rules
1. Multiple entries by one person are okay.
2. International entries are okay.
3. The winner must choose between the signed copy or the drawing (see information).
4. No hate regards to race, religion, or orientation.
Information:
Drawing – The drawing will be of one person, character, or animal against a simple background. It may take me 3 weeks to complete the drawing depending on if I get scheduled a crazy 10 days in a row again or not.
Signed Book – Will be mailed off on my next day off after 15 Feb.

Weekly Roundup: I haz a sick

I am currently stumbling my way through a nasty cold.

When I am sick, I am about as pleasant as a cat in a bath and as creative as a rusted door knob. Having to work while being sick leaves me about as energetic as a napping sloth with a neck beard.

I am tentatively postponing this week’s post until Tuesday morning. I don’t have to be to work until the afternoon, so hopefully I’ll be more energetic and the worst of this lame cold will be over!

~MLC

P.S. I am going to bed at the ripe old time of 8:00 p.m!

Weekly Roundup: Klingon Squirrels and Forgotten Treasures

~ Your number one source of Empire News!

This Week in Awesome

It doesn’t get more awesome than winning a Warrior Woman CD! I entered the G & T Show’s Martok Squirrel contest.

This just in: a police sketch of the elusive Martok Squirrel. Authorities report that he was last seen on Fallen Acorn 9 and is headed for HiddenNutia Prime.

It is reported that he is hoarding several crates of acorns. If you happen to see or have any information on General Martok Squirrel, please contact your nearest Federation security outpost!

The cover of the CD itself is badass. There is no other way to put it.

About the G & T Show:
“The G & T Show is an irreverent podcast dedicated to quality storytelling, interesting characters, and the latest news emerging in and around the Star Trek Universe. However, we are so much more than just another Star Trek podcast. We discuss films, television shows, books, comics, games, fan productions, conventions, cosplay, and so much more. The G & T Show is the premiere podcast for the modern Geek “


Forgotten Treasures

You’d be amazed at the things you forgot you saved to a flash drive, the one that’s been shoved into the darkest corner of that drawer you never open….

I found a 32 page novella I wrote during my last year of college. I remembered it as soon as I saw the file name. I also remembered how much I slaved over that thing with revisions…so I read it. It is a polished story that is almost ready to go! I couldn’t believe my luck at finding this forgotten gem.

A preview of the cover (it may or may not change)
The Outlanders
I think I may have to change my game plan because I want to make sure that I complete the comic. The amount of time I spend per page on the thing is astronomical–no joke! You would not believe the hours creating a single scene takes. I just can’t keep up, and I feel bad!
I am much faster at drawing things by hand. As much as I adore digital art, it takes me a looooooooong time to finish a single picture. Comics have a variety of things going on in a single page. Spending five hours on one page is finishing it in record time for me (just to give you an idea). Why am I rambling on and on about this? I decided that I’m going to do a test run with black & white pencil/ink pages. 

Weekly Roundup – MMO Winter Fun and Games

~ A quick recap of things around Empire Earth over the past week.

This Week in…
 Survival!
I survived my second Black Friday. If anyone was wondering why Weekly Roundup was on hiatus last week, you have your answer. With everyone opening Thanksgiving night now, we only get a few hours of sleep before we have to be up and at it again. Free food and Monster drinks were a huge helper in that endeavor.

MMO Land
December can be such a fun month; you have awesome festive food, treats, lights, gifts, and dual pistols that shoot giant snowballs.

 Screenshot is from last year’s Star Trek Online winter event

I love hopping into my favorite MMOs and joining in their winter events. I snag as many of the freebies as I can. It is the only time I actually enjoy *le MMO grind.* Lord of the Rings Online tends to have amazing outfits. Star Trek Online has awesome snow blasting weapons. I remember the original Guild Wars had a tradition of giving away amazing hats and headpieces! I would camp the timed instances for each of my characters in order to get the much sought after holiday headgear.

Currently Reading
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien – This book is awesome. There is no other way to put it. I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I am. I honestly expected something dull and long winded. It is anything but! The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars right now is because I haven’t finished it yet.

Matters of Opinion
My blunt, unabashed thoughts in 140 characters or less:
I want a month long vacation without any monetary consequences. I just want to take a month off from work and do whatever I want.

Video of the Week
It’s people like this guy who turn crummy situations into awesome things:

Announcement
There will be no The Outlanders update this month. I apologize for this, but ‘Tis the holiday season, the most busy time of year. I really want that month >.>