4th of july

This is for all the rednecks out there tonight. You know who you are.

Peace.

............

Update: So it seems the embedding has been disabled for this video. Click here if you want some joy: 4th of July

Someone please help me find my niche!

My dilemma: I've written this really cool short story and can't find a market to submit it to.

It involves an aging herpetologist with regrets about her unfulfilled dreams who meets an Aztec vampire that has grown weary of immortality. There's a strong Christian element (it's basically a conversion story) which makes it too 'religious' for the pro fantasy markets. And if there were a paying market for short Christian fiction, I'm wondering if the vampire element might be a big turnoff. I'm going to check Ralan.com to see what I can find, but thought I'd ask my legions of loyal readers if they had any suggestions first.

So do ya?

Best Beach Vacation of my life

I'm not a big beach fan. Spent too much time on them during my Navy years, I guess. But this past week was really great. The best time I've ever had at the beach in my life. Mainly because I was there with the most beautiful woman in the world, the best mother-in-law a man could ask for, and the most precious boys on the planet. Here are some pictures:

Back in town

Just got home today. We spent the past week, Sunday to Saturday, at the beach. Then last night we went to my wife's 20th High School Reunion. We all had a blast, but now I'm beat down. I'll post some photos later.

Peace.

Raging Slab - Take a Hold

Have you had your daily dose of slab? Well here ya go then...

This song is dedicated to all the mamas out there. Not that they will understand or appreciate it. But hey, if anybody needs some love they do. And this is how I express it.

Peace.

Best Fiction Novel Ever Written

Today I give the long awaited, most coveted award in all the known blogosphere. Yes, that's right, the pinnacle of awards, the apex of achievement, the peak, the summit, the inverted nadir! The first ever, Crotalus's Best Fiction Novel Ever Written Award!

And the award goes to...

(drum roll)....

....

This book!

Now do yourself a favor. Pick it up at the library, or, better yet, buy your own copy and read it.

Peace.

Secrets exposed!

We've got some secrets around here. But being the seeker of truth that I am, I finally managed to get to the bottom of a few of them. Look if you dare...and watch as long buried secrets are finally revealed.



Peace.

Finished! (sort of)

Despite all the rain, I finished the tree house. There are a few things I still want to do, but those are merely cosmetic. Structurally speaking, it is finally done.


The front porch, with tree that extends through the deck.


Other corner.


View from the inside. Yeah I know, a carpenter I aint.



From the side.


Don't look now, but that corner post is trying to pretend it's a tree.



The sandbox is underneath. And out of the scene there is a swing set to the left, a trampoline to the right. You reckon we got kids around here?

Okay, that's it. No more big projects this summer. Maybe I'll get started on closing in the back deck later in the year. We'll just have to see. Right now I'm going to bed.

Peace.

Dan in Real Life

If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. Steve Carell is not only funny, but this film proves that he is actually a great actor.

Peace.

How to make it rain for weeks:

Easy. Start building a tree house.

Now you know.

Memorial Day Dedication

My hometown had a Memorial Day service this morning to dedicate the monument that was put on the courthouse grounds in honor of its veterans, especially those who gave their lives during their service. Though I didn't get any pictures, I did find some on the website of those who conceived this fitting memorial: jdcva.com.


The center monument has a list of those who died in service.




The names were listed according to what conflict the veteran served in. There was also one monument which was completely bare on the back, so that new names can be engraved in the future. These are screenshots, so you'll have to click on the picture to get a better look.



Here is the list of veterans who served, but did not have to see combat. My name is here, thanks to my sister and parents who sponsored a spot on it for me. Thanks so much. I felt very honored.

Thanks also to all the folks who had the vision for this, got the ball rolling, and saw it to completion. From what I heard at the dedication, it really was a community-wide effort. For a town so small to do something of this magnitude is truly great.

And most of all, thanks to those whose gave their lives. Freedom is not free, it is precious, and is most definitely worth fighting and even dying for. May such sacrifices never be in vain.

Working with layers

I've been walking around with the idea in my head for years. I've always wanted to write and illustrate a comic book, but lacked direction and know how. Recently I've been working a little with Photoshop to learn the program and see exactly what I might be able to do. Below is my first attempt at illustrating and coloring a 'panel'.

For this panel I've selected a scene from the one and only book that I wrote. While I'm pretty sure the book would translate well into a graphic novel, I'm not sure yet how to attack something of that scope. The novel is about 120,000 words, which translates into close to 400 written pages. Some stuff would have to be cut. (Ya think?) So while that idea germinates and blooms, I may try tackling some of my short stories first. Who knows.

Except for the initial drawing this is all digitally rendered. Photoshop has a feature called layers, in which you layer on color and effects while leaving the background and other layers intact, so that you can manipulate and even delete layers at will, without losing work you've done on previous layers. Anywho....here is a sort of evolution of my panel. :



The initial drawing. Pencil in the scene, then ink it.



Next crop away the dinosaur study to the right and clean up the image.




Some basic color for the background, some basic color and textures for the dinosaur and water.



Shading, add a cloud, some color variations, and color for the human.



Add a little splash to the water and some indication of movement streaming from the man.


There. I'm sure I'll do more on this one later, but for my first run it didn't turn out half bad.

Peace.

Wisdom of a 4-year-old

So me and Levi are having a discussion the other day. It goes thusly:

Daddy, how do you know everything?

(Laughing) Levi, daddy doesn't know everything.

Daddy, do you have God in your heart?

Yeah, Levi, I do.

Daddy, God knows everything.


Wow, the boy is deep I tell you. And though I'm still pretty sure I don't know everything, I do have intimate access to the One who does.

Peace.

4 wonderful years

Levi just turned four. We celebrated this past weekend.



Little Einsteins for the cake. Thanks Melissa; you did a great job.





We had the party at the local recreation park. Tire swings rock.






Pinata's = sugar raining down from heaven!





Opening the presents.





Happy birthday Wildman!

Happy mother's day!!!

Here she is; the woman of my dreams, the mother of my children, the answer to my prayers, the love of my life.

Happy Mother's Day darling.

Now excuse me while I go watch America's Next Top Model with her. (And if that aint love I don't know what is.)

Peace.