Dra Studio.com - Design & Illustration

I’ve had the words of a song I heard at Status last week stuck in my head for awhile, and after shaking around in my head a bit, this wallpaper is what they turned into. I hope you enjoy, and for those interested, here are my notes from the speaker that night.

The story continues, click to read more...

New Illustrative – Site (uploaded by DRA Studio)

I just spend the last couple of hours finishing up my CodeIgniter PHP work to get the new Illustrative launched. Have a visit and let me know what you think.

Check it out here: Get Illustrative.com

I finally had the several late night hours needed to get my blog back to good and working. You should find it a bit more responsive and shortly, more consistently updated.

Be sure to note the change in URL location, though: http://blog.drastudio.com

Future Mapping (uploaded by DRA Studio)

Just a snap of some planning I was doing for changes to Dra Studio, Sketch Blog … and another secret project. :D

This weblog is undergoing some updates, so please hang on and be patient. Everything is being switch over from Wordpress to the more robust and simplified SimpleLog.

Everything should be completed shortly, but you will probably want to hit the “Refresh” a couple of extra times in the next few days, just to be sure you are looking at the newest stylesheet.

Wow. 20 days, 2 server swaps and a truckload of MySQL database-importing later and now both Illustrative and Drastudio are both back online. Hopefully, you are as glad as I am.

Don’t worry … there will be plenty of good posts coming soon. :) For now, you can keep yourself busy by digging through some sweet old posts … as I have resurrected many from our old Blogger account. Enjoy.

Yes, yes. Things look a bit different now and if you happened to be checking throughout the day, you probably noticed all kinds of wonky-ness. Just hit the “Refresh” and enjoy some new dainties here on the Sketch Blog.

Probably the biggest reason for the change-up in look and feel of my blog is to get me a bit more excited about wanting to consistently keep a journal of my daily sketches and thoughts, but there were plenty of secondary reasons … namely, K2. With their ease-of-use improvements to the standard Wordpress environment, ability to add tons of features via plugin, and AJAX slick-ed-ness, it was a no-brainer to give it a go.

So while I have only made small adjustments to the default look and plan to make it all custom-fancy-beautiful, go ahead and definitely check out some of the additions:

• Nifty “Archives” slider that lets you look at past entries, without reloading the page.


• Flickr photos in the sidebar, along with my soon to be growing list of “Books I Just Read”


• Instant Searching


• Recent comments left by you, in the “Look Who’s Talking” sidebar


• Another beautiful background, courtesy of SF

**For all of you wanting to break your brain on some seriously cool, but totally in-depth and algebra-esque CSS style selecting, check out the W3 article I found.

Alright, so I am really sorry for those few of you that check daily and keep finding nothing new. Life has been really hectic and confusing and frustrating and all that other stuff lately and I haven’t been able to find time to put fingers to keys or pen to paper …

But fear not … I am getting all caught up and you will be enjoying more yummy art and words before you know it. Why not wander through some of the archives while you are bored with yourself and leave me some commments? It’s fun … trust me!

… a.k.a. We’re back online! Go ahead. Join me in a nice sign of relief. AHHHHHHH! That’s better, isn’t it?

After three days too many, the Dra Studio, Illustrative. and this weblog are finally back online. “Why were we down in the first place?”, you may ask. You know, it was the usual “technical difficulties” … mainly related to the fact that we have some great people that offer us free hosting … things were just in transition for them. But now we can return you to your previously scheduled browsing. Enjoy.

Ahhh! Ahhh! WEEEEEEEEEHHHH!

Excuse my excitement, but it looks like one of my shirts made it into the running on Threadless.com. Please take a moment and vote for it! ;)

I some other designs I submitted, but this is the only one that has made it past approval so far. Cross your fingers and hope for the best!

Blogged with Flock

So here for your viewing pleasure is my slave and labor from last night … a poster I did Jonathan Jimison and Dave Woodrum’s upcoming concert, Coffee House in the Barn. Pretty and green, with just a hint of grit and grunge, I think it came together nicely as a meld of vector art and photo-realistic texture. And I mean … I got to work some new Dry Media brushes and Layer Masks in Photoshop and that is always a good time.

While I was working on this last night, I got caught up on Heroes, which IMHO is shaping up to be a great show for NBC. I also watched most of big Arnold’s Eraser on Court TV and a few episodes of The Office. All in all, a fun and productive late/early night.

Blogged with Flock

This is a shirt design that is currently being printed for Southside Christian’s upcoming Light Night at Chick-fil-A. The concept came from Josh Van Tassel, after the initially-submitted design was deemed too, “Halloween-eey”. Light Night is happening on the night of October 31st @ the Southchase Chick-fil-A, so if you’re looking for some good clean family fun, with candy and costumes, don’t miss it!

Blogged with Flock

Now I finally feel complete and accomplished. :) I have in my hands the first ever signed copy of the Jesus Odyssey EP by the Dave Woodrum Band. Ahhhhh. And, of course, the music is amazing. I am slightly sad that my two favorite pre-release tracks (God is There and More Than Anything) didn’t make it to the EP, but the tracks that did are fantastic.

So if you don’t already have a copy coming your way, check out the contact info on the band site or the MySpace page … I am sure you can email Dave to order one.

By the way, I did the cover artwork for the EP. Whoohoo!

Blogged with Flock

Here is the shirt design I did for the girls at FCC’s upcoming Beach Retreat. Since it was “pro bono”, I am not going to put it in the Portfolio, but I thought it came out nice and some would want to see it.

Blogged with Flock

Well, I finally got a chance to implement the really snazzy Client Login reveal animation I had originally wanted for the site. I always liked the idea of it coming from behind the site … sort of hidden for just our “secret” friends. :) Be sure to check it out (and probably change your bookmarked page if you are one of the lucky few that has artwork created by us).

Blogged with Flock

Are you as excited about the new Hawk Nelson release as I am? The accompanying artwork and and site design is really great (minus like 10 point for having such slow download times … though once you have seen it, it is kinda worth it). Definitely be sure to check out some of the wallpapers available for download … sweetness.

If I actually end up going to Cornerstone, FL this year, it will be because of these guys! But don’t worry … if you still want to hang out with me, I will be heading over to the House of Blues in Orlando for the Anberlin, Emery, and the Fold show. So be sure to be looking for me and the Jodie. I probably will be wearing my Forever Changed tee. :)

For those among you that have been wondering what Evenstar has been up to lately, you can now check out the fruits of our labor at MarkAtteberry.net (for you tech fans … this was our first Ruby on Rails endeavor). Yay for site launches!

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So this past weekend was really fun … we headed down South with the Chessers to First Christian Church of Pompano’s 50th Anniversary. Got to see some really old friends and some just really old people …

One of the highlights, as always, was the time I got to spend with my family. I just never get to hang with them as much as I used to … and it is not like we even live that far away! The other real highlight of the weekend was finding this photo of Community Christian Church’s and Pompano’s youth groups at a CIY (Christ In Youth) Conference. Not only does it have both Jodie and I in it (yes I am the kid actin’ all goofy!) in one of our earlier years of dating, but it also has Myala, Natalie, Mandie, Bobbi-Jo, Mike, Joel, Joey, David, Justin, Jackie, Lincoln, Chalis and Maria. Wow! Oh and if you look close … Jodie is wearing that awesome Happy Time Preschool shirt! Such good memories!

BTW, I have been and will continue adding items to the Portfolio in the coming days, so be sure to keep checking that out.

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Clearly, this was one of the better conversations that I had today … :)

If you haven’t already heard about it somewhere else, be sure to check out the website for the upcoming remake to Charlotte’s Web. Although I am plenty skeptical (mainly because Dakota Fanning still scares me a little), the site is well-made and enjoyable to look at and use.

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I am sure you are enjoying TLC’s new Life Lesson advertisements as much as Jodie and I are … this one happens to be my favorite … Jodie likes the guy with his hands covered in bandages. You can check them all out here. Enjoy.

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Here are my notes from Justin Miller’s excellent sermon during Family Worship Hour today:

Leadership Principles of Faith

Introduction (relating holiness to faith):
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).”

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:6).”

Main Text:
• 1 Samuel 14:1

Main Points:
• God wants you to jump and believe (and expect) that he will catch you.
• Leaders (that God will use) tend to be pro-active people (i.e. David facing Goliath, Moses, Peter, Paul).
- Most leaders are re-active (they wait around for problems to come to them).

• Always take someone with you (Find at least one other person to go with you/belive you)
- “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul (1 Samuel 14:7).”

• “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain (Psalms 127:1)”.
• There are two types of people … People that believe and put their whole faith, trust and everything in God, and those that don’t.
• God wants you to be in a place where you are absolutely defenseless, absolutely dependent.

Minor Thoughts:
• Where there is no vision, people perish (i.e. earlier in this chapter Saul started out with 3,000 men and now has only 600).
• At some point [God is going to ask you for] a check larger than your charisma can cash.

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Iconz has come up with a new cover for the Video iPod. Each of these awesome covers not only protects your iPod, but it looks sweet! Check out these products and more by clicking here! You can also buy them at Target!

maybe someone should get a Homer Simpson cover for Prof. Hardin

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Right now at FCC we are in the middle of a 40 days of Sacrifice event … an opportunity for each of us to sacrifice something – in appreciation of the sacrifice made by Christ, in devotion of wanting to draw closer to his will, and in dedication to ourselves in setting a goal and being able to see it to the completion. The end of the 40 days brings us to the time of rememberance of not only Christ’s death on the cross, but more importantly (and the reason for our Easter celebrations), his life after the cross.

While I am sure in your mind you are already comtemplating how similar to Lent this event is … the difference here is that it is a personal sacrifice. No one is forcing you and there is no need to announce to everyone what it is you are giving up. Keep in mind the scripture from Matthew chapter 6:

“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

It’s not about appearances, it’s not about rituals … it is about growth and a small denial of self.

(Props to Andrew Sale on his design for the 40 Days posters …)

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If you didn’t believe me before, now you have a reason to … here is the true conspiracy proof that the Eye of Sauron is upon all of us, even as we speak.

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To go along with this wonderful picture I rediscovered this morning (it was just lingering around in my iPhoto Library!) … here are some young Cortez family traditions that you might be interesting in adopting for yourself.

1. Birthdays. They are so important … they should be appreciated … all day long. Which means, if you are in school, you get the day off. If you work for a living, you get the day off. If you take the day off for a living … well, you get the idea. Birthday = Day Off.

2. Birthweek. For this family tradition, we got to coin a new phrase. If you celebrate a birthday all week long, you can’t call it anything else, but a “birthweek”.

Basically, this is one is about having fun, doing crazy good awesome things and generally celebrating that special someone … but all week long. Go to the movies, buy them cupcakes, take ‘em fishing … whatever. Just be sure they know … all week along that they are having a Happy Birthweek!

BTW, if you have a Mac and are looking for a really pretty set of photos to use as your screen-saver, go to your Screen Saver settings, choose the “.Mac” item in the list and type in “ocortez” as the dotMac username. Fluffy, huh?

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Yes. You read that right.

During some of my recent Google-hopping, I happened upon a sketch blog entry entitled: ” Some sketches for a potential Firefly prequel comic project…”

Check it out here!

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Since the majority of the people I know just aren’t organized enough, even despite my best efforts at coaxing … here is a direct link to an amazing and “100% absolutely free” tool that everyone should be using: Ta-da Lists - Make lists and get stuff done. Tada!

Seriously, people. It’s not hard.

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Yesterday I had a revelation. An astounding and fantastic revelation!

Yesterday I realized that two of my favorite visual creators (it doesn’t seem enough to call them just ‘artists’) share a first name and a near identical sounding last name.

Meet Mike Kunkel and Michael Kungl. Both spectacular in their medium of art; both much more creative than I can currently hope to be; both with a flair for marvelous colors and ingenious storytelling (in their own manner). And now, both with a special tribute digital wallpaper, created by me. You can download it on this page.

I hope you enjoy their work … they both have provided wonderful inspiration to me in my own creative works, as well as visual encouragement when I need a little “pick-me-up”.

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No truer statement was made than the one by Jodie at dinner the other night (at Chick-fil-A, of course! Yay for sweet all-nighter coupons!) … if I am not getting enough sleep, more than likely, it is Eric’s fault. ;)

Seriously, it was great having Eric with us this week. Not only did Evenstar make some major headway with Mark Atteberry’s site design and development (I will post a link when we launch … should be tomorrow or Tuesday … if I can just stop blogging long enough to finish up the last of my BaseCamp To-do items … j/k); we were also able to collaborate on the new technologies that will more than likely direct the future of our projects. Since Eric is interesting in starting an Evenstar blog soon, I will leave the rest of the technical details for that.

So yeah. I have a lot of great books from the Library that are still piled on my desk, waiting to be read (though all the ones I have started, I am really enjoying). I just got past #3 of the Invincible trades … amazing … truly wonderful. Robert Kirkman … you are a genius. And I have to say, as much I like Cory Walker’s artwork and was sad to learn that he stopped drawing the books because he was getting really behind schedule … I am just digging the work by Ryan Ottley. It is really growing on me and like Kirkman said in the back of one of the trades, he is getting better by the issue. Really.

I am supposed to have already started reading Harry Potter (sorry Jessica!), but that will have to wait just a few more days. And I am so glad that I had nothing new this week from Coliseum … I so didn’t have time to devote to any comic books.

That is about it … though, on a minor note (or not, depending on your point of view), I have added morning and evening Bible reading times to my schedule. So many of the sermons and discussions I have heard recently have talked about how important it is and I have definitely been enjoying beginning and ending my day in that manner.

Alright … later.

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Well Eric Peters is in town visiting (and working) and with him from the lovely land of Virginia, he has brought photos of my design work for Northside Christian Church transformed into huge foam panels. Check ‘em out. I am beaming with pride!

Update: Since Vanessa mentioned that I should show everybody what it is that I actually designed for Northside, you can click on the thumbnail to see:

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Finally … a really good idea. ;)

I had thought of making something similar for myself a while back, but never got up the nerve to waste that much company time. Now I can just spend $70 on this! Yah … actually, it is pretty cool. Go now and buy one for you and me.

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S-W-E-E-T!
Google has just released three really sweet Dashboard widgets, with which you may happily decorate (and empower) your Mac.

My favorite of the bunch so far is the Blogger blogging tool … finally Google, finally!

Check them out here.

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Wondering what the Dra Studio used to look like? Here is what it was back in the middle of 2005. Not too shabby and just a little bit fun.

Since I figure that not everyone has been hanging around for all the versions and at least someone has to be wondering where it all started, I will keep on posting old shots of this site from previous years. How fun!

By the way, plenty new items have been added to the Wallpapers and the Portfolio sections, with more still to come. Be sure to keep checking those pages out!

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Since I haven’t used it anywhere yet, but plan to soon, I figured I’d post the cool valid XHTML code I found for using Flash elements. And since, for some reason Blogger does not seem to be letting me add “code” or “pre” elements easily … just take a moment and peep the code here.

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While reading a book for work, “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, I found myself at this statement:

“A culture of discipline involves a duality. On the one hand, it requires people who adhere to a consistent system; yet, on the other hand, it gives people freedom and responsibility within the framework of that system.”

Sounds familiar right?

The first half of the duality …

“The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. ”

And the rest …

“I’ve seen an agent punch through a concrete wall. Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air, yet their strength and their speed are still based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be.”

Interesting, huh?

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Look. I’m not saying that it is true or anything … but if it was up to me, I would be saving my money and peeping Engadget.com everyday. I mean, some dreams do come true, right?

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Hehe … found this great site this morning (thanks to DRAWN! and Eendar excellent blog) … Almost Naked Animals is proud to present the very best ashamed to display the mostly nude among wildlife today. Have fun!

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While watching one of my recent favorite podcasts, command N, I followed a link to this site, which contains this fantastic collection of corporate identies … and not just images of their logos, but full descriptions, creative teams, Pantone colors, and typefaces. Exhaustive in its information, this site is a great way to spend a few minutes.

And while looking for an image to accompany this post, I stumbled upon this page that critiques and discusses both the new FedEx Kinko’s and UPS re-brandings. Both are done in a constructive and beneficial manner.

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Just for the record, here are some of good resources for all things Mac:

General Stuff / Support
Apple.com - Guys … com’n, that should be a given!
MacOSXhints.com - Solve all those problems you are having.
MacUpdate.com - “The” place to get your Mac freeware, shareware, and updates.
MacMinute.com - Up-to-date information on Mac-edness.

And for a list I was just pointed to, of some great FREE Mac software:
OpenSourceMac.org

Enjoy!

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Looks like Andrew Sale has been a busy little bee … this is a design he did for the upcoming FCYC youth event. Does the acronym sound familiar? It’s because I have worked with the Florida Christian Youth Convention in the past. I think Andrew did an excellent job here, in providing them with something unique and “youthful”.

Just out of curiosity, did anyone else know that the words “radar” and “laser” are acronyms? Radar - ra(dio) d(etection) a(nd) r(anging). Laser - light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. How interesting.

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Well, this past weekend proved to be a real test of mind, spirit and my personal sanity. My main business partner, Evenstar Media, had a big need in a small amount of time … hello, Oscar to the rescue! Along with normal FCC work hours on both Thursday and Friday, I was able to complete this beauty in just about 21.5 hours, around 10pm on Saturday. Sleep? Sleep?!? Who needs sleep! ;)

Things went well, BaseCamp did its job marvelously, and I was able to make it through Sunday worship service without falling sleep on the bass.

By the way, if you haven’t been on the FCC campus in a few days, let me be the first to tell you that the tower of Sauron has a new home. Yup, the CEOs over at Sprint now have solid eyes and ears to everything going on on campus.

(Confused? I will try to post a picture of it later.)

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Yesterday I enjoyed the privilege of attending the Get Motivated seminar that was in town (thanks to Terry Allcorn and Student Life for ‘sweet hook-up’9).

There were lots of great speakers and despite having to listen to ridiculous sales pitches every hour or so, it was all worth it to hear Colin Powell, Rudy Gulianni, Bobby Bowden and Zig Ziglar.

You can peep my notes from the whole day by heading over to the Dra Studio home page and clicking the “Access iDisk files” link at the bottom on the right.

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Yah. Yah. YAH! Engadget just informed me that Panasonic has posted dates and specs for their new 6 megapixel beauty, the Lumix DMC-FZ7.

6 Megapixels, Mega OIS (optical image stabilization), 12x optical zoom, and 2.5-inches of yummy display goodness. I am so ready … and now I have until March to come up with $399 bucks. Sweet.

By the way, Robot Johnny just release his dandy lil’ Groucho Marx Name Generator. Cool.

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This morning I just happened to catch the fact that Turner Classic Movies is running a tribute to Hayao Miyazaki (maybe just this month?) on Thursday nights. Here is an excerpt from their biography article about him:

“Known as the ‘Japanese Walt Disney,’ Hayao Miyazaki is one of his country’s outstanding directors of animation. His internationally admired animated adventures include the epic Princess Mononoke (1997), a tale of a mythic battle between humans and forest animal gods that at one time was the highest-grossing film in Japan’s history. It was later surpassed by an even bigger boxoffice hit, Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001), in which a young girl stumbles into a mysterious spirit world.”

You can read the rest here and look for the show times of his movies on the TCM Schedule.

By the way, hopefully you have kept peeking around the corners here at the Dra Studio. Jodie and I have been hard at work updating and revising things together, all for your benefit. Since so many people have asked about them, the next big thing to be re-added will be Jodie’s immense collection of desktop pictures; followed closely by more additions to the Portfolio section.

Is there some feature you would like to see at Dra Studio? Something we’re missing? Let us know!

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I have completed most of the hierarchal structure of the site and am systematically moving all of the old content in. There are a few desktops available for download, but expect more after lunch. I have added a few items to the Portfolio and that is coming along quickly to.

If you have any comments or suggestions regarding the new site design/layout, just let me know.

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Clearly, I have finally landed the boat on the new DRA Studio design and CMS management system. I have settled on working my sweet hand-coding magic and utilizing Blogger for all those other features that I needed. Creating the custom Blogger theme has been the only strained part so far. Things are moving quickly over to the new structure of the DRA Studio, so be sure to check back often. If you see anything that looks a little whacky, it is possible that you need to empty your browser’s cache (read: Refresh).

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Below is something I wrote for one of the older versions of the site … and as you can see … I wasn’t having the best of days and I was feeling pretty bitter/depressed. Enjoy!

Converging Avenues
Here is me. Here is my hectic, sleepy, depressed, one-broken-wheel cart of life. All the way over in the aisle with the yams are my hopes, dreams and aspirations. And as much as I would like to wheel and squeak my way over there and plop them down on top of my milk and Oreos, I can’t. Or at least it seems like I can’t.

Even with the great comfort, assurance and effieciency that tools like Ta-da and Expose provide for me, I constantly feel as though I have accomplished nothing. Even with a head yearning for sleep and eyes weary from staring at pixel bits, my task lists look longer than ever. And every day I can hear myself speak again those promising words of completion and normalcy … just to be defeated by another rest-less night. Another moment full of ideas creative wonders, all of which will never see the light of day. I’m too busy looking for a bottle of it among the shaving cream and hair gel.

This newest re-visioning and restructuring of the DRA Studio is nothing more than my newest feeble attempt to maintain a successful, constant outlet for my creative and profession labor. It was, of course, doomed before it even took form … more likely than not, it will be waiting with me behind the large lady writing welfare checks in the Cash Only checkout line of my future. Striving hard for daily postings and constant updates, this too will probably flop and roll away, like so many lonely detached grapes in my fuit basket.

Powered by WordPress. Cheaper than SquareSpace. Come and enjoy these fleeting moments of frivolity and fun - you’re likely to get your head caught in the automatic doors on your way out.

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Last night we got to join in on the holiday fun at Coliseum of Comics in Kissimmee … not only were there giveaways, prizes, free soda and christmas yumminess, but there was a $7.00 store credit for everyone that showed up! It was quite a busy night for CoC, and a lot of merrymaking for the throng of people that attended. Among the highlights of the evening were Jodie’s purchase of a Hardcover version of Brian Azzarello & Jim Lee’s Superman of Tomorrow, Vol. 1 and my purchase of Justice #3 (Alex Ross, we love you!) and, of course, the amazing, astounding, rip-your-face-off fantastic Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #1.

Hope everyone enjoys the upcoming holidays … I know I will be using at least some of the time to rest up from late night designing and coding … and of course, enjoying time with my family and all. Merry Christmas!

P.S. - I, Jodie, am very bitter that during the giveaways a kid was helping the CoC store people pick the drawing tickets and not only picked his own one time, but also won another awesome prize. One kid, two prizes, and he tried to pull together his $7 credit with his brother’s so that they could buy more! Argghhhhhh!!! Aside from that all the stuff I enjoyed was at the top. - JKC

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Jodie has made a new Movie Quiz contest for all to enjoy. The winner (or possibly winners) will receive their choice of an original piece of artwork by yours truly. Head on over and play … may the force be with your best guesses!
Click here to view the quiz.

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A strange and fun thing happened the other night just before all the students left campus to return home for the holidays. A group of girls, we will just call them the Spatula Squad so not to disclose their true identities, and a few boys from appartment 402 were involved in a little squabble with big results!

It all started on the night of Friday, December 16th, with me, that is Jodie, taking a few people to Toys’R’Us for a last minute gift. Some girls from the aforementioned group came and bought two Star Wars lightsabers and a three pack of walkie talkies. When we arrived back on cmapus the plan was to gather other weapons and terrorize the boys from appartment 411, which mostly included Eric, but we will call him Bob Dylan! The boys from 411 refused to open their doors when they saw our weapons! Apparently we caused such a ruckus that the boys downstairs, aka 402, came out and were shooting us with nerf darts.

After a few highjinks around the campus we ended up back infront of the 402 appartment with a few new fighters. One of these fighters was Oscar, although it is still uncertain which side he was on, and Nils whom we have now nicknamed “Edmund” because he betrayed us. After a watergun and cups of water were added some people got upset and retreated to their room, 402.

You might think that it would stop their, but next their were eggs and even Sunny Delight being thrown from their appartment onto the teams of girls standing outside. Finally, we called a “truce” and sadly Ryan was soaked in water, juice, pineapples, and other various sweet-smelling sticky things. The boys vowed to get us back and I am sure they will want to even more after they read this entry!

P.S. Ryan, I think that you should team up with us against Matt so he can’t hide behind you. Sorry about the busted lip!

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Thanks to the joy of SquareSpace, the DRA Studio is getting a new look & feel, as well as an all-together-now gathering of blogs, postings and any other information we could find laying around.

By the way, before finding SquareSpace, the other CMS I was looking at implementing was CutePHP. It is free, so if you are looking for a simple XML-based solution, this might be it.

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In case you have forgotten, be sure and head back over to Orisinal for some silly fun Flash gaming. Every single one is a beautiful masterpiece.

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This Saturday we headed over to Epcot and MGM with my in-laws for some holiday fun. Got to check out both parks for the first time ever … pretty sweet. My favorite attraction at Epcot was the “Talk with Crush,” which is a live, fully interactive AND 3-D animated discussion time with Crush from Finding Nemo. So amazingly done!

We also got to enjoy Candlelight (Jodie for the first time as a spectator and not a singer) … it was enjoyable. Of course, it would have been more enjoyable if we had not waited needlessly in a ridiculously long line or if our guest narrator hadn’t been the low-budget (IMHO) Harry Hamlin, but what can you do?

I also managed to pickup a sweet set of foam rubber nun-chunks in China. Yah for Asian-style violence!

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Looking for a great way to send a large file to someone? Like a file that is bigger than email, Gmail, or even 7 lane highways? Look no further than YouSendIt, the leader in digital file delivery.

Also, if you are needing a new way to find music, check out the Pandora project! Just put in the name of a song, artist or genre and Pandora will find you more music that you are bound to like. It is pretty sweet. And if you aren’t already, you really need to be using PureVolume to find music … there is no resistance!

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Keepin’ it simple and sweet, since I am really bogged down with Evenstar and DRA Studio work right now … enjoy this tasty treat from my preliminary work on the Mark Atteberry site face lift. :)

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New shirt designs are here … head over to the “Apparel” section of the DRA Studio and check them out!

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That’s it. It is official. Everything we know and love has come to an abrupt and finite end. Adobe has successfully acquired Macromedia. No longer will competition drive the need for excellence in both camps … instead we can look forward to integration and cross-application workflow consistency … great.

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Has it really been that long since my last update? Shame on me for enjoying life and traveling way too much!

My apologies for not keeping everyone in the know about stuff in general … here goes two things:

Currently, I am listening to Dave Weckl and really liking it. I have really been enjoying Project 86’s new album, along with music from Anberlin, Falling Up and Kids in the Way.

It is more than time for me to upgrade my camera. I have been wanting to for quite some time now and now thanks to Jessica’s boasting about her new Canon SD500, I have spent some time looking for upgrades. I have narrowed it down … you can check out my choices on my camera Amazon.com wishlist . I am especially liking the Panasonic Lumix … now to find some money or a financial benefactor.

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Looks like the Brothers Chap have finally seen Jodie’s awesome Stink-o Man Lego statue. It is being featured on the Homestar Runner page this week! Check it out (under the Fan section).

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In case you have been sleeping with your computer off, there are plenty of fun and funky fresh things happening here at the Studio. Mill around, get aquatinted and try not to eat all of those mini-hot dog things!

Check out the rest of the FCC Roundup photos here!

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How cute is this 404 page! Man, do I love Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends!

Check out this fun comic strip on “How to Draw Comics” … it is how I feel sometimes.

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Ah yes! The much anticipated Lite Night photos have arrived. Laugh over them here!

BTW, Looks like Joe has added a Bible search feature to his site … check it out … it’s pretty sweet! And while you are at it, go ahead and subscribe to his RSS feed.

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A new face and feel to the studio is in the works (and if you are one of the privileged few, you have already seen some of it!), so keep those browsers open and the Refresh set at full!

Off to the side here, is a toolbox image that Apple created to promote the newest version of Backup … I thought it looked pretty cool.

By the way, a really big smack in the face thank you to whomever decided to develop the iBelieve iPod shuffle lanyard. It’s bad enough that some people actually have a problem with obsessing about Apple’s products, to the point where it because the most important thing to them (no, Vanessa, I am not talking about me!), but once this bad boy hits mainstream (just give it a few weeks/months), I will never hear the end of it. Some preacher is bound to use it as a point of contingency about “where our minds have wandered and where our hearts have strayed” … etc. with the baloney pop-metality. Listen, I like Apple’s stuff. It’s good. Really good. Because it is so good, I am a proponent of it. I tell people about it … that doesn’t make me obsessive or mean that my priorities are out of whack …. or does it? Hmm.

And clearly, as Vanessa/Adam/someone pointed out, it appears as though Blue’s Clues’ very own Steve … has lost his mind. See?

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It is almost here … no-tie Saturday! Woohoo! Plus, Batman Begins is showing at my house tonight!!!!

Enjoy some of the new stuff I am blogging all over the place and the new additions in the Portfolio area. If all goes well this weekend … there may be a new, shall we say, “look” to the studio on Monday … we will see.

Later!

P.S. Thanks to Sulley for helping me out at work … he is just a dedicated employee!

P.S.S. Thanks to Vanessa for revealing the mystery that is origin of the M&Ms candy name … Forrest Mars Sr. & Bruce Murrie, the two partners in the company! Check out the whole Wikipedia article here (there is some pretty sweet stuff in the M&Ms history!).

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Check out the DRA Studio front page for a link to the list of comic books I am currently selling.

Oh, and gaze upon this pretty sweet panorama shot I took last night during some of the Fall Fling activities.

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Oooooo ….

Just like I told Eric, “I need one. I want one. Amazing.”

More than a stuttering Howard Hughes, this thing is screaming, “wave of the future.” Don’t take my finger-pointing for it … check it out for yourself here.

Watch the demo videos. Really.

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Tony Jaa is at it again with his next amazing looking movie, Tom Yum Goong!

Check our the character bios and the gallery. It looks like good ‘ole Humlae (George) is back as a sidekick/partner …. sweet! And there are going to be some great fight scenes with Madame Rose, Johnny, and of course, TK! Peep the slew of posters, too!

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It sure is nice to be back in sunny Florida! Virginia was nice and all, but there is nothing quite like getting off of Flight 211 and heading straight home and enjoying a great Netflix (Onk-Bak for the curious) over some delicious China Wok, with Jodie, Adam and ‘Nessa. The perfect end to an already perfect trip.

(Hours later …)

It feels good to be back in the DRA Studio, surrounded by pretty markers, and lots of posters and comics. It’s my own little creative Fortress of Solitude … I just don’t have any cool white memory crystals anywhere. Man, Clark gets everything!

Well, if you missed me, missed reading more of my blogging, even missed seeing my pencil scribbles … let me know! I like talking to people! Honest! Com’n and get on iChat and say ‘sup! Me likey doey talky … or something like that.

Keep your eyes peeling and pointed at the Studio Proofs page. I am working hard to stuff that thing full of projects that need to be completed and as many new ones as God will give me. Thanks to the guys and gals at FCC that keep me busy with all the youth group work … it is my favorite!

I am also working tonight on getting all my past t-shirt projects (hereafter known throughout the DRA Studio as ‘tees’) up in the Portfolio. People have been askin’ and I will be doin’.

Alright. Enough with the blah blah. Get back to work. Get something done. I know I will be!

P.S. If you are like me and want to design your own iPod nano paper cover, peep this PDF. It is a modification on one featured at the ‘lounge. I added a nice L.A. Symphony desktop image to mine!

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Hey gang … guys, gals, and the rest of ya’ll.

Ok. Enough of that. Here are the next batch of photos … these are from Sunday … sorry, no pictures were taken on Monday, though I guess I could upload some of the many many pages of sketches I did for the Northside logo … nah! (By the way, I know these new photos don’t have comments yet … I will try and do that tonight).

Also, Eric let me in on a little secret the other day … and if you didn’t know it, then it really is a secret. TLC, as in the channel where they show stuff like What Not to Wear and Trading Spaces … the initials stand for The Learning Channel. (pause for undue dramatics) I know! That is what I said! Unbelievable.

By the way, if you haven’t already, download a copy of the pearLyrics widget … it quickly finds and adds song lyrics to your iTunes currently playing song. The best part? When you are listening to the song on your iPod … just keep clicking the click-wheel center and viola! there are the lyrics!

I found myself shouting today, “iPod has lyrics! iPod has lyrics!” …. aaahhhh … things are right with the world … ;)

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Here is the first set of photos that I have taken while in Virginia. These were all taken yesterday. Thanks for all that were thinking and praying that my flight arrived safely. It was easy and fun and it arrived on time.

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The Japanese are amazing. I want to buy one of these for every girl I know.

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Just uploaded a whole slew of new desktop pictures. Some from Jodie and some by me. Included in the set is one featuring photos I took during our Christmas vacation to Kentucky/Indiana. I actually had the idea a long time ago, but just got a chance to finish it up.

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We got to go to a sweet Apple Store opening this weekend. It was at the Florida Mall and man, what a nice store it is. It has a look and feel to it that is much closer to the Tampa store and the New York store. I doubt that I will go to the Millenia Mall anymore … this store is so nice!

We got to the mall around 9 in the morning. Apparently, some people had been there since 6! Losers. It was so much fun, but there were some real freaks and fanatics there … check out this one unhappy fella’s tattoo. There was also a guy there who had with him the first MacWorld magazine … he was hoping that Steve Jobs would be at the opening … but no luck.
This past week I sold my (newer) iPod mini to Andrew A. and was able to buy a new iPod nano at the store today. It was a bit of a challenge, choosing between black or white, but I chose a black one. I got to be the second customer ever at the new store! The guy that beat me was the MacWorld-wielding man. Ted from the Resource Center was there too. He picked a white nano … his reasoning was that every black nano in the store had fingerprints on it. It makes sense, but I am happy with mine.

Terry Allcorn come with us too. Man, was that fun! As he put it, he is finally “switching to the Dark Side”. He picked up a new Mac mini and a really great HP printer (all-in-one) … with a great discount.

Also, Jodie took some pictures of her really nice “Stinko Man” LEGO creation and sent it off to Strongbad and the Chapman Bros. Hope they like it!

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