My oldest is getting good on the swingset

Annis Butte Dan

Doodles

It's been a bit since I've done some doodles. So, here are some drawings from my sketchbook.

The Celery's Sacrifice.

Last night, I was making dinner. I cut off the bottom of a celery stalk and looked at it. It was kind of beautiful. It looked like this:

I thought "I am the first person to see this. I am now going to throw this in my compost pile, where it will wither and decompose into dirt, never to be seen or even thought of again. That means I am going to be the only person ever to see this."

A ping of regret hit me. Poor celery heart, destined to die and be devoured in such obscurity. It was planted, raised, and killed just to be chopped up and cooked. I ran and showed it to Rachel so she could see it too.

Then, I took a picture and put it here, for you to see.

There, I don't feel bad any more.

Rampage!

Newest kid vid. Started using Premiere for my editing, works much smoother than before. Still learning special effects. Any feedback/tips would be appreciated. Enjoy.

Electric motor.

Built this in my basement for an E&M project.

A Trip Worth Taking. Part 6

Wissen was sitting at his desk in his smoke filled cramped office looking at his voluntary retirement papers. He had just finished reading the morning e-reports from Command and was halfway through the stack of paper work when he came across them. Retirement papers are sent out the first time after serving in the Rheinland Military for fifteen years. He was staring at them with the last two inches of a cigar in his mouth, trying to think through his options.

His family was dead, so there was no Mom and Dad to go home to. He had nothing outside his carrier in the Military. On the other hand, he never wanted to sign up in the first place. His father forced him to do it when he was 17, promised him that if he served five years, he would buy him a ship, and Wissen could do anything he wanted with it.

A Trip Worth Taking, Part 5

Tripper sat in the bar on the Briesen Mining Facility, sipping his beer looking out the window.  The orange gasses outside filled the entire view.   He was thinking of Morris, the little brat would be seven by now.  Tripper wondered if he still wanted to join the Liberty Navy, or if he ever found out the name of this nebula.

“The Walker Nebula.” Tripper said to nobody. 

A Trip Worth Taking, Part 4

He could not stop smiling.

He tried to, he tried to make the transaction with debonair and eloquence.   The reality is, though, Tripper had been smiling since he had the money to buy the ship he had his eye on. 

His final cargo run was the same one as the ill fated one that made his first million, except this time, he didn’t run into any pirates.   Tripper was accompanied by a trader who hired him, a man named Harus.   Harus was looking for some advice on a good trade run, and Tripper told him about the ore run to New Tokyo, and offered his services as an escort.  Surprisingly, Harus agreed.   So, while Harus went to get his ore, Tripper went with him and filled his own cargo bay up.  On the way there, Tripper did the math and realized he would have enough credits to buy the ship he was saving for.  He was so excited, that he didn’t charge Harus for the escort. 

Outlets are Dangerous!

A Trip Worth Taking, Part 3

Tripper was in the helium cloud by Erie, he planned on spending an afternoon making a little bit of profit.  A six year old boy was in the passenger’s seat, looking out the starboard window.  Dave had a sister whose son wanted to join the Navy when he grew up, and she thought it was about time to introduce him to space.  So, Dave offered Tripper a week of free beer if he took him up.  Tripper thought mining would be a safe excursion to take the kid with him. 

It was hard for Tripper to imagine anyone never being in space.  He was in his early twenties before he had a place called home that was on a planet.  Being a miner’s son and growing up on an interstellar transport was an upbringing that was far removed from this little boy he now had as company.  Tripper’s father always told him they were going on trips.  He used to say: “That little Demetrius is the six year old that has been on the most trips in all of human history.”  Once this was pointed out, Demetrius was given the nickname ‘Tripper,’ and he has gone by that name ever since.   

A Trip Worth Taking, Part 2

Tripper stepped out of the licensing office.  No longer registered as a miner, he looked at his freelancer license.

“Man, I look like an idiot in my picture.”

Half an hour later, Tripper was sitting in David’s bar with warm beer in hand and the newly procured license sitting next to the half empty bowl of nuts. 

Dave picked up the card and inspected it with a suspicious eye.  He looked it over as if he suspected it was a fake, half thinking this was an elaborate joke.  “Well pant me green, you really did it.  You gone and did it.”

'A Trip Worth Taking' Part 1

Wrote this a couple years back about a character of mine for an on-line game. It's a bit long, so I'll post it in parts. The places, vehicles, and organizations are specific for the game (Freelancer), I apologize if they get confusing.

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“Hey there, Trip.  Long time no see; I hope your run to Kusari was good.  What will it be?”

“Hey Dave, I’ll have the usual.”

Tripper sat down at the bar stool.   His overalls were dirty and smelled like they hadn’t been taken off in a week.  His short dark hair was sticking in every direction possible.  He let out a heavy sigh as he rubbed between his eyes, trying to work out the furrow he’s been wearing ever since he got back to Erie. 

Kayleadeck. Introduction.

OK, it's been awhile sense I've posted anything. Sorry about that.

 It seems a lot of people I know have been writing. I've read stories about Krypton, Steam punk settings, and the novel my wife is writing. I'm feeling left out, so I thought I would try some.

 Here is a bit of a story that has been inside of me for a wile now. Jotted it down in my spare time.

 I have another short story I wrote that is set in a sci fi setting called 'Frelancer,' If anyone is interested, I could post that as well.
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 Kaileadeck leaned forward doing everything he could to get as much speed from the horse as possible as he galloped through the forest. He urged his mount by using his will just as much as his words. His small body was an odd contrast to the large horse he was riding. From a distance, it looked like an adolescent human child was in the saddle. His long black hair held in a top knot by a gold ring, the lean muscles, large eyes, and stubble growing on his chin showed him older than first assumed.

 The men chasing him had not gotten close enough to him see his face; which was a good thing. Kaileadeck was under orders to kill anyone who saw his face, and fighting eight men alone would be difficult. Of his 42 years, he spent thirty of them have been spent in training, honing his skills into the effective tool he was today.

Leftover Dry Ice.

Oh, the fun to be had with some dry ice, large cup, and some soap.

Link to something cool.

http://nooooooooooooooo.com/

making videos with the kids.

Got with the kids today to make some videos with the camera. I think the Wise Institute of Film Environment and the Movie Operations for Minors orgizations will approve of these.





and



the wizard was very picky about the sound effects of her spells.

My smallest comic yet

This is the smallest comic I have made yet. Hint: That doctor has paper and a red pen.

Keep it Simple

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Girls Camp

Yes, that is my hat. Up until Tuesday my hat had never seen nor heard of a Bedazzle. That is because before Tuesday, I had never been to Girls Camp.

My church, every year, takes the young women of the ward, (between the ages of 12 and 18) camping. As time drew near, the young women leaders were in need of some male campers to go with them and I volunteered along with two other gentlemen. I had been to Scout Camp, and camping with my family, but this was something completely different.

The very first sign that things were going to be different is when two of the girls stole my hat and covered it in shiny gem-like stickers. To be honest, I didn't mind much. Next sign was at dinner that night. The tables at the camp site had. . . . TABLE CLOTHS!! Holy cow! That never happened at Scouts.

The food was as plentiful as it was delicious. The conversation was surprisingly tame. No one got seriously hurt. The activities were fun. So many things were different than what I was used to.

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining in any way, shape or form. It was a blast, and I will not hesitate to go again next year.

I had to make a picture of one game we played. After night fall, we donned some glow-in-the-dark necklaces and bracelets and ran into the night to play capture the flag. After dividing the teams, I realized that nobody took inventory as to who was on our team. We realized that in the dark, we couldn't tell who is who, and would not be able to identify our teammates. So we came up with some code words. When somebody walked up to you, you would say "pancake" and they would reply "pickle."

Once someone yelled go, there was a blur of glow-in-the-dark movement and a din of "Pancake" "Pickle" "Pancake" "Pickle" "Pancake" "Pickle"

After 10 minutes of playing, the camp caretaker told us we were being too loud and had to quit. It was a wonderful evening.