Blog is being moved.

In the next few days, in all probability, I'll be closing off this blog.

Address further following to http://timothydean.tumblr.com/

Kind thanks.

In Honor of Earth Day..

I've always held the belief that if every human being could see our Planet from these perspectives, with our very own eyes, we would not only appreciate each other a little more, but our world as well. On this Earth day take a moment to pause and view each of these photos. Take a close look at the details, the beauty, the scale, the illumination of colors, the depth, the awe. For now images are all most of us will ever get to see until the day comes in which all of us will have the chance to glimps such wonders with our own eyes.

Good Ol' Insight.

I'm having network issues...again. It seems every so often my service provider decides to go through mood swings, which are least to say, frustrating. On Saturday I had 4 hours of outage. Sunday a total of 11 hours. Today I had 6 hours of outage and I'm hoping I can get this post in before they decide to go down again.

As usual they've been less than helpful on the phone. Last year, when I was experiencing significant outages, they had the ability to tell me if it was an error on their side, or my side (bad modem). Today, while discussing the issue with a tech, they said "We're not sure". In fact, according to them, "Our current status shows you've had no interuptions".

Really? So I'm just calling to chat about weather? While I didn't say that, I certainly felt it. Frankly it doesn't matter what their screen shows. What matters is that for the past two days I've had my service drop for at least 20 hours total. One light on my modem, not the needed 4 to indicate I'm powered on, uplink established, downlink established, online transfer open.

My intention is as long as this keeps happening I will be making a phone call until someone comes to my home to help fix the situation.

I will be kind about it of course. But I certainly hope I don't continue to get the tone of "Are you sure it's down?"

Why yes, I think I know the difference between the ability to access online applications and not being able to access online applications because my modem is telling me there is no established connection.

Dry Ice and Wine

I got my hands on some dry ice today. I'll spare the details as to how I got it. Don't worry, it was nothing illegal. So tonight I decided to have some fun with it in my wine. These 3 photos, or rather 2, are the end results of the series. The First photo is entitled, "Nebula". As compared to the second, you'll see that it is a direct downward shot into the glass. With an L.E.D. booklight adding to the surroundings off-shot, and a rear flash to accompany everything else, the end result was a brillant display of refraction and color that reminds me of star fields. The first photo is the keeper as the absense of the background provides the illusion perfectly. I have the second shot, with the background in play, to show that it really is wine and dry ice.

The bottom photo is a lower angle shot done with the same lighting setups, but in a desaturated mode and slight color warming. Designed to capture the vapor out of the glass, I'm happy with the final turnout on that shot.

Evil Panda

You know what makes me annoyed sometimes? When services I'd like to use suffer an outage. Also annoying are the bland outage notes you run into.

This time though, with grooveshark, during an outage with updating and installing widgets, they got creative. I love this. Click the picture so you can read it. If you honestly don't get a kick out of this I'm coming to your home so we can have a serious talk with each other about the humor of panda's wrecking server rooms.....

....all you'll like it.

Zap!

A week ago my TV blew up. This morning my cable box has apparently lost its sight. Now, I know it's not an issue with my tv for the following reasons:

• I can see/view/manipulate my guide, onDemand services, and menus.
• My PS input and play works just fine including image.
• My DVD player works just fine including image.

The only thing not creating an image is Cable. I have full audio, but no video reception. Joy.

And to top it off, it's a holiday weekend so it can't be replaced until at least Tuesday. What is it with me and electronic devices lately? They're blowing left and right. I'm afraid to even touch my laptop!

The Face of Insomnia

New Top 10 - YouTube Style

I started off this blog with my top 10 favorite movies (In no particular order). I think it's time I do a new one, but this time in regards to music. To be more specific; These are the top 10 songs that move me deep within. The proverbial kick-in-the-stomach emotional twisting of the heart we all enjoy.

It wasn't easy to find just 10, but I've done my best to find the ones that, not just lyrically, but also in melody, drift me to places in which my mind is lost in a storm of bliss.



10. "Dark Angel" - Blue Rodeo w/ Sarah McLachlan.






9. "Rootless Tree" - Damien Rice. Live From Abbey Road version.






8. "Dantes Prayer" - Loreena McKennitt.






7. "Something I Can Never Have" - Nine Inch Nails (Still versions)






6. "Hurt" - Nine Inch Nails (From the "Beside You In Time" DVD)






5. "Right Where It Belongs" - Nine Inch Nails (From the "Beside You In Time" DVD)






4. "Pills" - The PErishers






3. "Can I Stay" - Ray LaMontagne






2. "Shelter" - Ray LaMontagne






1. "The Noose" - A Perfect Circle

Seriously?

Far be it from me to pick apart someone for their failure to communicate properly, but this just cracked me up. You see, now and then you run into a room troll in gaming. Someone who thinks a provacative name and a mouthy text approach makes them bad ass. It's just a shame that their inability to properly convey their messages ruins their attempt to be the next kid on the block who can type vulgarity with a keyboard.

Now I don't know about you, but I learned the difference between "who" and "how" in grade 1.

It's a sad, sad, day for the education system.

Nothing like short notice.

Yesterday I get asked out of the blue, "How would you feel about going back to NB around the first week of May?"

Now aside from feeling horrible yesterday and not much in the mood to discuss this subject once again, I was intrigued and slightly pissed. Here's what is apparently happening, which was planned behind my back (AGAIN) and what ticked me off.

My Brother and his family are apparently going to NB around the first week of May for a trip. They have plans on flying to Maine and then driving the rest of the way. My Father would apparently drive me to Maine to meet up with them and I'd join in.

Now here's my dilemma. Where the fuck do I stay? I have no place to stay to be quite honest. There's noone that I know of who has extra room. While I need to get back home and renew some stuff, it won't be an overnight process.

So I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do about this situation. For some reason people here think I have the ability to just waltz into one of my friends homes and say, "I'm staying". Obviously that's not the case.

Ugh. Not happy right now. I hate my situation.

In Bloom

Rise and Shine

My alarm snapped off at 8am this morning to the start of the song of "Bittersweet Symphony" at the very moment the glare of the Spring sun passed through my window and over my eyes. It was like my own personal 'waking up' commercial. Probably a coffee commercial.

To imagine this probably isn't as funny as it was to live it. However, since some of the trees around here are starting to bloom, I suppose it's my signal to go out today and do some "in bloom" series of photos.

Darnit.

I'm just realizing now, after making some mild updates here, that the title image text looks like it reads, "transcending stud". Obviously it really doesn't say that. It's the standard logo. However, it appears I paid no attention at all to placement and shades. Guess I have to add that to my list of things to fix, which by the way, said list is beginning to grow.

Hidden Treasures

Now and then I run across a photo I've taken that, for some obscure reason, forgot all about. This morning, while trying to find a particular texture amungst the mass of mess held within my CD's, I came across this hideen gem. No, it's nothing spectacular, but it is (at least to me) one of those hidden gems.

There's something about the simplicity and light of this photo I enjoy looking at. I don't think I'll place it up in the shop, or post it in my regular dA, but it was worth a showing here.

It was taken in the Spring of 2008. Spring, which now approaches in this year and perhaps is fates reminder to get out there soon, when things really start to bloom, to take some new photos.

Kablooey.

This is how my TV looks now (and I apologize for the poor quality picture. I did it with the webcam). A single, bright, line across the center of the screen. I turned it on early this morning and heard a cross between a "crack" and a "pop" come from the back. My TV has slit its electronic wrists. I won't show you the smoke spray on the wall (actually I can't because the camera cord won't reach), but it isn't pretty.

Fuck.

Let's work together.

I'm always looking to collaborate ideas and create new works with people in regards to digital paintings. So here's my open invite/call/offer to all that if you're interested in working with me on a new piece, email me a timothydean@live.com and we can discuss what you'd like to have done!

What are the benefits for you? Well, you get (hopefully) a lovely digital painting of yourself that you can add to your own personal photo collection that you can show off to your friends, family, and the public! Also, honorable mention of your name and linkbacks to advertise anything you desire through my postings.

What are the benefits for me? I get to continue my practice, add to my portfolio just like you, and make additions to the shop!

So if you're interested, or would just like to entertain the idea, send me a message. Let's hear your ideas :-)

Take the left, or right?

Those who know me well know that I suffer greatly from sinus related headaches due to allergies and sudden temperature changes (from cold to warm, warm to cold). Very few medications help relieve the pressure of the headaches when they happen. First is simple ibuprofen. It works pretty well to rid most of the headache to make it a very dull ache; Nothing that prevents me from functioning. The other med is Benedryl (the non non-drowsy). Obviously I choose that as my secondary because I hate being a zombie in the middle of the day.

Tonight, though, I did something stupid. It's truly my fault for not putting the pills in the bottle (I have them sitting on the tray in the cabinet).

The picture shows two different medications, but they're 99% similar in appearance. The only noticeable difference, which might not be shown in this photo, is one is slightly wider than the other.

One is my generic benedryl, the other is a vicodin. I accidentally took the vicodin. How do I know I took the Vicodin? Well, it's quite easy to tell when you take an opiate. Light, rubbery legs, mild scratchyness, and...well...a side effect that I prefer not to mention directly here, but let's just say it arouses a sense.

Again, it's totally my fault for not keeping these things in the fucking bottle, but it once again does raise the awareness of similar medications, not just the bottle labels, but the pills themselves. Anyways, for the next 6 hours now I'll be a happy man while watching the hockey game.

The Snug Wow!

The Snug-Wow. From last weeks "Real Time" on HBO.

Another Ouch Moment

A new oddity to report from the land of Oblivion. While venturing through the depths of one of the many caves in the land, I got into an archer exchange. Being the better man, I of course won that fight, but not without a little help from carefully placed arrows.

There's one arrow in particuar that, one could say, was the nail in the coffin. Something that wasn't planned so the silly, eyeroll, humor comes into play.

Yeah.. I'm off to do some cleaning today. Needs to be done!

It's time for...

...New Rules!

Deep Freeze and a Bison

Last week my fridge started to leak. In every sense of the word, about once a day, it would wee out some water from underneath the doors. Strange, it was, to have water start pouring out, like a slightly open sink tap, out from the freezer.

After some detective work, it was discovered that the water was coming from the back of the freezer, from a 6x6 grated hole. Who knew that was there? Not me and certainly not anyone else, but there it was; Wet and gushy.

So a call was made to the Maytag Man and on Tuesday he arrived. A weird fellow, about 50 years in age, and twangin' an Ohio accent that was often hard to understand.

After calling my Fridge a beauty darlin' (really, he did), he took one look at the hole and said "Ah ye froz up in the back ther!". Double-blink-pause, then respond.

"Ok. So....fix it?"

"Nah nuthin I can do. Got to turn it all off for two days!. Let'er thaw. Rid the ice n water. You'll be good affer that!".

Fuck. Two days? And what about my food? Well, that was enough of an excuse for my Father, who has been dying to invest in a Deep Freezer, to go get one. So this morning it arrived and now there's a buzzing white box in my garage awaiting to be fed my freezer contents. I'm thinking tomorrow I'll pack it and start the thawing process. Should be loads of wet and wild fun. Especially since the fridge sits on a hardwood floor, making sure that stays dry will be the constant battle.

Now, about this Bison thing:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

In the Veil of Rain

Transcending Studios 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Unauthorized distribution is prohibited.

For you "twits" out there..

I have a confession.

My latest addiction is Twitter.

I follow all my news and sports teams on there, as well as some others work I greatly enjoy. It also allows me to tie into blogger and other sites for fun.

So for you twits out there, here are some apps you might be interested in.

Twuffer

Tweetdeck

Enjoy!

Random Web Chat Moments

Them: man..is it reallly st. pattys day now??

Me: Uhhuh! Sure is!

Them: it's about dam time...you know for the past 4 days or so..each day..i thought it was st.pattys day...but i was never sure! my calender doesn't list holiday shit..

Me: Well feel assured my good man. Today is the day!

Them: finally...because for four days I've been drinking green beer. i;d wake up and go "whoa..is today st.pattys day? I better drink my green beer" and so I would. then i find out it wasn't st.pattys day. then I'd wake up again and go through it again! it's been like a wicked bad groundhog day with leprechauns and booze....

Print Shop Plug

Reminder that my work is available for purchase at the above site. Choose between regular prints, framing when applicable, mouse pads, coffee mugs (Or beer!), greeting cards and more.

Goblin Porn

I swear I didn't plan this outcome. It just so happened the two goblins I slayed fell on top of each other in this provocative way. Look at their faces! lol
It's screen cap gold!

Anyways. Back to work :P

(Temporary?) Retirement from MMO's.

I've said for many years I am part Geek, or Nerd, or whatever the fuck label people use nowadays. I'm not ashamed to admit it. It's who I am. I enjoy nerdy things like watching the Discovery Channel, Space programs on Science, and I'll enjoy a good episode of Battlestar Galactica.

Part of being a Geek/Nerd, for me anyway, is gaming. I love games. There is no other way to put it. In my freetime I can think of only two things (ok three, but we won't make this x-rated) I greatly enjoy engaging in. One is taking pictures and that's not always workable because weather factors in and sometimes it feels like work rather than play. The other is sitting down and playing a game. A little known fact I'm about to admit, but quite often the MMO worlds often inspire the fantasy worlds I try to portray in many of my digital paintings. Usually the inspiration is minimal, but it is there.

The online world has advanced the gaming world by leaps and bounds. From the simplicity of game sites like PoGo to the evolution of the MMO/RPG (Massive multiplayer Online) there are countless options for reality escapee's like myself.

(Outside the Forsaken Inn with fellow Kinsmen. Lord of the Rings)

Over the years, as the MMO scene has grown, I've found myself engaged in many worlds. From the early days of Ultima online, the poorly done (but at a time oddly addictive) FlyFF, the gorgeous Guild Wars, the lame World of Warcraft, the adventure of Lord of the Rings; I've tried so many. Too many. The list is longer than what I posted here.

I remember a time in MMO's where communities kicked ass. If you had a question someone was always there to answer it and be happy to answer it. Need a quest buddy? Never an issue. Wanted to try a new skill combination just to see what result it'd bring? Chances are you would find fellow adventurers to assist. Now something has changed after so many years...

I find/found myself growing tired of the redundant theme. More specifically - community. Yes, I do like to get involved and why not? As an online game the community plays a big role in the enjoyment of your progression. To me it's like going to a party. Would you rather be at a party with a great atmosphere of people? Or would you prefer one where most people at the party do nothing but bitch about the music, the drinks, other people, the food, and everything else?

I prefer the first.

(Sonata. Guild Wars)

Guild Wars, the game I spent the longest involved in and where I birthed "Sonata" (still an obsession today), was a game that I truly loved. The people were awsome (and some still are) and the immersion I got from it was perfect. It must have been to have allowed me over two years of involvement. I recently left though after growing tired of repeating the same progression over and over. That and nVidia and Vista fucking hate each other in regards to this game and neither NV, or MS, or Dell for that matter will solve the fucking issue........but I digress....

I also grew tired of the community. What was once a helpful, accepting, and gracious group is now a vile, childish, and aggressive group. E-Peen runs wild and it made for a less than pleasant final months. There's only so much emo bullshit a person can take.

I moved into Lord of the Rings online after that and while it's a great game I fell into a mental slumber about it. I just didn't feel it. I still don't feel it. The people there are fabulous, my Kin was amazing, but the motivation to pursue the lands was missing.

I've just cancelled my Sub to it. I've moved into Oblivion; An offline RPG game.

I'm not sure if this is the end of MMO's for me. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. If Guild Wars 2 is worth the penny I'm sure I'll awaken the legend of Sonata and carry it back to Tyria. But until then I just don't see myself getting back into an online game. If it isn't a horrible community, it's a horrible game overall as recent MMO releases have shown the pathetic approach developers have been taking in the games.

Maybe it's just my age. I don't know. What I do know is I'm tired of l33t sp33k. I'm tired of 12 year olds with keyboards. I'm tired of racist remarks. I'm tired of homophobe remarks. I'm tired of people who rage in PvP. I'm tired of gamer lingo like FTW (which, by the way dipshits, really means "Fuck The World" and not 'for the win'. Whoever made that for the win shit should be shot) and pwned. I'm tired of the emo-child mentality, regardless of age, that some gamers feel is cool to take part in...when in reality...it just isn't.

Sorry, but I'm deciding to go to the parties where the people are happy to be at the party. I can't go back to the bitch-fest ones. And the best part about this? I couldn't be happier :-)

Food for thought

Just reading some news here and I see A.I.G, who got billions in bailout money, used $165 million of it to pay employee bonuses. Their excuse? "Well it's in their contracts!"

If that's the case why not pay the bonuses out of non-bail out funds? Oh, that's right. They can't. All their current captial is bail out money.

The most hilarious comment made by A.I.G about this was that their employees who get bonuses do a great job to deserve them.

Maybe someone should point out to them that requiring federal bailout money to prevent company collapse is not a sign of good employees. It's a sign that many, many, people fucked up in their jobs.

I said it before this bailout ever happened. If you give the bad money managers more money to badly manage then you're going to get bad results. A.I.G is not the first and won't be the last to abuse the taxpayer dollar. You don't break bad habits by having a politician shake their finger. Yes, I'm talking to you, Obama. This is about the third time you've been outraged regarding the bad use of bailout funds. Stop wagging your finger in anger and start acting on it.

If the federal government was serious in sending a message of outrage; That these actions are unacceptable, here's what they should do.

Send a posse of IRS agents to A.I.G-HQ. Considering if I were to default, or badly manage income that belongs to the government in the form of taxes, I'd have a few knocking on my door, I think A.I.G should have 165 agents knocking on theirs. It evens out.

Have those agents sift through every paper, every record, and question every person in the building. While questioning takes place, the Repo-Agents begin collecting any and all assets including desks, computers, pictures on the wall, and even the office kitchen sink.

Upon collecting material substance to repay the debt to the Taxpayer; A monetary payment will also be required at an adjustable interest rate beginning at 8.1%. A nice looking number to start, much like they'd give the public. Then in 6 months the IRS can jack up that interest rate to 14.4%.

After AIG has been bled dry and the taxpayer money returned to the federal government, allow AIG to crumble under its own weight. Yes, that's right. Let them fail. Because if they're unwilling to change ways on the verge, they'll be unwilling to change ways when/if they survive their self-made crisis.

Which of these things is not like the other...

Whoops?

Guess I didn't pay attention to that today. Good thing I wear shoes in public.

I'm worth

According to Human For Sale




I would like that paid in small bills, please.

Hilarious

I saw this on Attack of the Show last night. Laughed my ass off. When Andy Richter is on, he's on.






On a different note; I like to plug sites that I enjoy visiting. I simply can't help myself on spreading the word about goodies that bring me happiness and entertainment, all at once!

If you haven't heard of grooveshark yet, well, you have now? It's a free online, browser based, music service. It's where I get the embed music on the side. That one...right...over...there. See it?

Free means no charge and no sign up. How much easier can it be? It runs on flash so be sure you have that plugin installed. If you're in the 0.5% of the population who doesn't you better get it now.

You can, if you so choose, sign up (for free, again) and allow yourself some access to widgets and embed's for your site. It's what I did so I could widget music to here! :-)

So go, have fun, and listen to some tunes without worry. And yes, the quality is amazing. Not some cheap stream shit.

Booyah! Set a new record in Wii Bowling, bitches! 236 ain't too shabby if I do say so myself. I also believe this equals my facebook "Bowling Buddies" all-time score. Also, not only did I set my new record, I managed to stay above 1000 in level. Phew!

In other oddities:



I found this fortune rather amusing. The front side is on the left. Obviously throwing a twist on Water and quite cheesey. Flip it over and it becomes complete when you're taught to say/write "Beer" in Chinese.

I'm sure I'm probably the only one who finds the humor, stupid humor as it is, in my fortune. Oh well. At least I smiled about it :-D

Looking for volunteers

I'm looking to recreate "Symphony".

It's become quite apparent that the stock holder is not going to reply to my request. A simple "Yes", or "No" would have been great, but no answer at all isn't sitting well with me. I'm taking no answer as the "No". I didn't know this piece would become so popular. Therefore I'm going to redo it so it can be freely posted and not restricted by complete silence.

So, if you're interested in being the stock model to recreate "Symphony" please mail me at timothydean@live.com and I can go through some further requirements I'll need from you (aside from what will be written below). Keep in mind that my intent is to post the final piece in dA AND the Print Shop for sale. You will not be commissioned on any sale, but you will receieve full naming credits along with any additional network, marketing, and links you desire (such as a dA site of your own, personal website, or other). Furthermore, I will send you, either via Email, or snail mail, final copies of the piece for your personal use.

Here is what I need from anyone interested:

• You need access to your own camera and one that takes photos higher than 1200x1200.(The higher the resolutions the better)
• You need access to similar outfits and accessories used in the photo.
• You need the ability to copy. or mimic the pose as close as possible.
• You need the ability to copy, or mimic the distance as close as possible.

If contacted I will direct you to the stock image itself that I'll be asking you to portray and that will be painted into a new version of "Symphony". I will also give further instructions and requirements as to how the photo should look for best results.

I will take as many submissions and volunteers as I can get for this and choose the best suited photo to work with based on resolutions, clarity, and working ability for D-painting.

Trolls hurt

Even when you're 10 levels higher. At least I finished the deed!

I'm having all sorts of net issues since Sunday. My router has been dropping constantly. I can get in some tweets, check mail, but that's about it. I managed about 30 minutes of LotRO play before I got stomped offline (not by the troll mind you). If my router is stable my ISP ends up dropping for an hour. I remember the day when DSL and cable were first hitting the market. I was told that disconnects and slow speeds would be gone forever!


Liars.

It's time for..

New Rules!

Kisses

Just toying around with settings. Chocolate makes a great subject. MmmmMmmm.

Random Web Chat Moment

Them: did u see that?!?

me: See what?

Them: That!

me: What that?

Them: That "That"!

me: Oh! Thaaaaaat that!

Them: yea. That one in "did u see that?!?"

me: That was a hell of a that

Them: yes it was. of all the that's that have been put on this earth, that THAT was the that.

me: I totally agree. Noone does that like you that.

Them: and that is the moral of the story. GIJOE!

On the 4th of March

Today is my Father's 61st birthday. Officially it's today, but it has been celebrated for the past few days. First was the addition of a Wii to the family, which I've duely paid for with every muscle in my body aching. Wii tennis is highly addictive. The high note though is Tiger Woods golf. Yes, I said Golf. We would just embarass ourselves on the real links, so the Wii sufficies as our Father & Son golfing matches.

Tonight we went to dinner at O'Charley's. I can't be bothered to check the spelling on that. Why should I? It's not like they're paying me for a plug. Anyways, it was a great dinner, aside from the impatience of others, which is daily typical.

I of course brought my camera!
I also, of course, forgot to charge my battery!

But I did manage two snap shots.

"Slooooow riiiiiidddde. Take it eeeeeeeasyyyyy..."

Happy 61st, Pops!