New...

Sooooooo, what do ya think? =) I like it. It's much more like me. Now all I need to do is go through some previous posts and fix some linking errors. If you notice, when you click on a couple of the images, you get an Error 404 message. Not a good thing. Also, I've been told that I use too many ellipses ("...") in my writing... perhaps I do... ;) I also use too many emoticons. I'm not sure how formal I wanna want to get here... I'm thinkin thinking I'm going to leave it as is, partially because I don't want to go through my previous thirty-something posts, and mostly because this blog is supposed to be me and my writing style is part of who I am. (Though I will go back and remove the weird inconsistencies like the random signatures I put on some posts and not others.)

Web Browser...

I was once a PC user. I used Internet Explorer. Then I found that there were alternate web browsers! I spent time with Opera. I liked it because it was simple. I bought a MacBook and began using Safari; I didn't like it so much. Then I discovered Firefox. Ever since then, I have been loyal to Firefox... until now. I've had Google Chrome on my computer for quite some time now. In the past few months, I've used Firefox, Safari, and Chrome, depending on my various needs. However today I think my preferences have rearranged themselves because of a wonderful discovery: Chrome works. Now, I realize this is an obvious statement, but I don't mean it in exactly the obtuse manner in which I just stated it. I mean that the highest percentage of my internet usage is spent using applications made by Google. Do you suppose they take extra care that their web browser works extremely well with their other projects? Yes, of course they do! Gmail, Google Docs, and Blogger all work perfectly in Chrome. They respond more quickly, and do not display any kind of arrangement glitches as one will sometimes find when using an incompatible version of a browser. So here is the message I will attempt to convey this evening: Chrome is awesome. =)

PS: I will be doing a bit of cleaning up and rearranging around my blog in the next few days, so feel free to leave feedback about the changes. (Preferably in the comments section of this entry so I don't have to go searching all over the place for your comments. ;)

Few Things...

Okay, so I know it's a huge letdown when you go to someone's blog and they only update like every couple weeks... There's no fun in that. Sooooo! I'm going to try to post EVERY DAY! =P It might not be much, it might be a lot. We'll just see how this goes.
So today we had a strange spike in our internet connection. I mean, it's not "fast" but it's at least reasonable. I hope this change in permanent. Speaking of changes, I have a new guest that reads my blog now and is messing up my stats! Linux and Chrome now occupy a good third or more of my pie charts! x) heheh...
I've given up painting and 3D temporarily......... okay, so I haven't exactly "given them up." I've simply not had enough time in the last couple weeks to do any of either. So it feels like I've given them up. School is now in the second semester and I have GOT TO pull my grades up, so my list of "daily things" will probably change and I may have to give them up. =( ... but I hope not... we'll see.
Ah! I forgot to tell you! I got my SCUBA certification! =D I am now a licensed diver! I can dive to 60 feet and am allowed to procure my own tank and equipment. wooooo! =) Dad bought a GoPro 2 and we used it when we were diving... it's pretty awesome. (Those cameras are soooo cool. The owners' manual even has an entry stating that "if the camera is to be used at speeds exceeding 100 mph, the waterproof backing for the shell should be used as it is more structurally sound"... the very fact that they expect someone to use the camera at "speeds exceeding 100 mph" makes that camera AWESOME, in my opinion. =)

Stats...

I was looking through my "Statistics" tab in my blog's preferences, and I found these neat little graphs... =) They made me happy... mostly cuz I know two people who watch my blog on a Mac... ;) (and their initials are the same! yes, you know who you are... ;) Aaaaaaanyhow, the other interesting thing was on the left... Russia? I have views from Russia?! =) COOL!

Vacation...

Why don't I enjoy vacations? I don't understand... I mean, I appreciate the break, the rest, but I suppose there are things and people that I don't want a break from............ and then I feel guilty for being ungrateful. Really, I have no place to complain: I'm in Hawaii. =) It's warm. It's humid. I'm sure it will get sunny eventually x), though today was mostly cloudy............ but it's 2700 miles from my home. Home is where your family is, people say. No, home is where your heart is. Home is where you feel at ease, safe. Where you go to shut out the world for awhile. Where you spend your Sabbath. Where you can safely change and be changed. Do I feel like that with my family? nope... It's horrid, I know, and perhaps it's because I'm in the stage of life I am in and am separating myself from my family and becoming my own person. But, my home, my family, is... elsewhere. More specifically: it's 2700 miles away and snoring.

School.... Again...

=) I'm actually happy to go back to school! I am soooo ready to get back into it! x) I woke up at 6:30 today, the earliest I've been up in quite awhile. =P Even during the first part of school, I would get up at 7, so I feel horrid right now... Ugh. x) But I'll get used to it! The thing that motivates me the most is getting to see my friends again. =) ... Now it's time for the final sprint to the end of the year. It's nonstop business until June, so I'm gonna hafta be on top of things and not let myself get lazy.....

More Paintings!

More paintings, wooooo!!! =) Heheh... Yeah, I think I'm starting to really like this painting thing... I downloaded the app Brushes onto Dad's iPad. It was developed with the assistance of some artists from companies like Dreamworks and Pixar so it is well designed has many of the tools that a painter needs. =) I love it! Best app I've ever used! Anyhows, here are my first two paintings with the software... I did them with my finger! x) Perhaps I'll get a PogoSketch sometime....... nah. =P

I don't usually draw guns... =P Only reason I did this time was cuz we, my brother, Dad, and I, went target shooting at a friend's house and that was what was on my mind at the time... =)
More later!

Happy New Year!

Recently I've been quite discouraged about my painting... actually my art in general... not really sure why... maybe I'm just moody. =) but last night I decided to pick up the tablet and give it another shot! so here's what I came up with... and it made me a little bit happier about it all... =)

 So! It's a new year... 2012... Some people say the world's going to end this year... For some dear friends of mine, their lives are just beginning... For me, well... I've got things I aim to do and things I aim to fix. I'm a little bit wary of writing them down here because it's so easy to let yourself off the hook when nobody knows you're on the hook. x) But I suppose that makes this a positive thing, so here it goes. I organized them into categories and limited myself to two per category:

Health:
1.  Strength - I am weak. Quite simply put. I am a very skinny guy with barely any muscle on my bones. I'd love to be a bit more... solid. =P (besides, my g.f. likes muscle... as do most girls, I hear. ;) Now, I don't know a lot about measuring strength and can't exactly put a measurable amount on this goal except for an estimate by weight: I weigh 110 lbs. I'd like to be 120 by the end of the year. (I'm taking into account the fact that I'll probably grow some too... I'm not going for 10 pounds of muscle... that sounds like a lot to me... I was thinking more like 5 pounds...)
2.  Flexibility - This one goes along with the previous one. I want to make sure any muscle I build stays healthy and useful and maintaining flexibility will help with that.

Art:
1.  Voice - While I do have goals I want to achieve with the piano as well as learning to get comfortable with my newly-acquired flute, I figured those things would come more easily to me and I'll probably get to them anyways even without them being on my list... The hard thing that will actually take a bit of focused work is my voice. I'm in the school choir now so I'm singing more regularly than I was. But I'd like to sound good on my own too... I don't exactly have a game plan for this goal....... I'll figure it out eventually, I guess... Perhaps I'll talk to my choir teacher about it...
2.  Painting - Well, as you can see above and in my previous post, I've already started in on this goal... I simply intend on being more regular about this... 3D is progressing quite nicely... I just want to balance my artistic efforts a bit...

School:
1.  Work Ethic - [sigh] I don't have a game plan for this one either... It really is just "buckle down and do it"... I think this one will be improved, though, by the next one...
2.  Time Management - I'm going to try and schedule my day even more precisely... Like, after-school stuff too... I come home and have my evening planned out already... Give myself a half hour of flexibility for whatever in case I need to run an errand or something, but at four my evening schedule begins... This should help me get into a working mindset more easily...

Personal:
1.  Time With God - I know we all say this one every year... But I mean it just as earnestly as I did last year and the year before... And one can only just try again... and again... Regular time with God... Now, I think He understands that I'm not a morning person... =P He made me not a morning person... So prayer time in the morning will have to do... I'll do my devotional time before bed in the evening... Can't read first thing in the morning..... but I MUST have some kind of time with Him every day...
2.  Stuff - I have a lot of stuff... in my room... it's ridiculous, really... if I'm going to simplify down my life, I need to get rid of all the stuff I don't want/need/intend to use... For example, for a few years, I've had this storage space that I tossed all the neat junk I found and intended to use one day... But now, it is clear to me the hobbies I am going to pursue and building stuff from junk is, unfortunately, not one of them. =P Therefore: toss the junk.

Ooooookay, I think that list should be good for now... =P I think it looks doable.... it looks a bit longer now than it did in simplified form on my notepad, but I'll summarize it here so we can see how manageable it really is:

Health - strength, flexibility
Art - voice, painting
School - work ethic, time management
Personal - time with God, simplify living space

Perhaps that is a little long... but I do have all year to do it... and some of the points can be put on hold until the school-year ends like the things under art and simplifying my living space...
So that's what I'm starting this year with! =) Bring it on, 2012! I think I'm ready! xP Wow, that didn't sound too sure.......... =)