... or "Why backup up, both often and diversely, is so important."

If you know Jodie and I, you know we enjoy movies, own quite a few and often fall into the role of being-a-local-BLOCKBUSTER-to-our-friends. It is for those reasons that we use the amazing Delicious Library application that Wil Shipley and his grass-roots team have developed for the Mac. With barcode scanning, Address Book-based check-in/out and a wifi-synced iPhone application, it is way better than any on paper setup we have had in the past.

Here is my entry for this week's Illustration Friday theme of "dip" ... it goes out to my wife, Jodie, who is convinced the time is right for swimming, sun-ing and in general heading to the beach. I say it's still spring.

This is all vector, mixing some Brush strokes, the Blob Brush, the new (but still lame) in-line Gradient tool and a tad bit of Illustrator's Raster Effects thrown in for fun.

One only has to sit in on my DFP Icon lecture, perused my Flickr uploads tagged osx, or (for you privileged few) use my Mac for a few minutes to realize that I am very particular AND very protective of the way my Finder windows look. I have nice sidebar separators, several essential tool bar application launchers, Windows 7-like window snapping, and a fairly even background image to grid layout ratio ... and that's ...

You may have missed the announcement a few weeks ago, but one of my favorite games, Plants vs. Zombies, from one of my favorite Mac game developers, Pop Cap, has just spouted up on the iPhone. Now you can continue to quell some beautifully illustrated zombie madness on the go!

I know Jodie didn't install this on her iPhone, for fear of losing her life to it ... but I had no such qualms. Parcelling out ...

I just thought I would share part of the Valentine's Day gift I made for Jodie this year ... 24 different designs and pop-culture references for 24 different ways to say "I Love You". If my math is right, then that should be about one per hour of the day and if your guess is right, these were sized perfectly for her iPhone screen. So in spite of AT&T's at-times finicky MMS network, she still ...

The last couple of weeks I have been going back and forth between Firefox and Safari as my default web browser, trying to appreciate their full-featured nature over the fact that they are both so sluggish in comparison to the lovely Chrome Beta. Thankfully, Google announced support for two of the things that have really kept me from making it my preferred choice ... Extensions and Bookmark Management.

Thanks to an equally relaxing and productive morning, I managed to wrangled up my earlier drawing into this fun vector. It's sized just perfect for your iPhone, but I am thinking it would make for a great poster print. What do you think? Anyone got recommendations on a place to print them at? I've only ever used Cafepress, which is slightly pricey.

Although it doesn't directly relate to the drawing, this is what I read today ...

Along with Norm, I have been on this kick lately to drink more water... whether it's of the tap, iced or vitamin variety. For the most part it has been great ... you feel less thirsty, gives you something to put in your "I Heart Jim Halpert" coffee mug ... all that good stuff. Sadly, though, it also has the side-effect of forcing me need to visit the restroom like every 1/2 hour. And sometimes, ...

I love helping people move! Maybe it's the free exercise, the affinity I have for keeping things organized or just the hanging out with friends ... but if you ever need help moving, you know that I will be right there to help. Of course, it doesn't hurt if you have also some yummy pizza and soda for afterwards (thanks Aunt Gale!).

This is one's a quick pencil sketch with a HB lead, inked with the ...

Sometimes ... having to deal with drama is annoying.

On a lighter note, this was lots of fun to draw and shade, thanks to a Indigo Blue Prismacolor pencil I found at work. The yellow I added in Photoshop.

On another note, I am again under my daily calorie allowances, thanks to the fabulous Lose It iPhone application. If you want to join me, just add me as a friend in the app.

Jodie and I had great time with a gang of FCC kids tonight ... exchanging presents, playing Nerts (Erin and Seth won, but Courtney and Christie were in a close second), enjoying pizza and homemade holiday treats ... and of course, rocking some sweet Mario Kart : Double Dash action.

Despite that it is like an almost 8 year old game, it is still one of my favorites for the Gamecube/Wii. The newest MK added some ...

This is just a quick daily sketch for Friday ... me in a new shirt and sweater to watch Jodie's performance in FCC's Night of Noel. I apologize for the rough lines ... I'm still getting back into the habit of drawing all the time. ;)

I actually had to repeat the colors a few times to get them right. I tried working them up first using Crayola markers, but ended up re-doing most of the ...

After a yummy Thanksgiving lunch and hanging with the co-workers, I spent some time updating a few graphics for the DFP course's Project 3 example.

Despite the fact that these pieces will end up in Flash as part of an AIR deployment, I still created the vectors in Illustrator and did a copy-import. Not because I am lazy, but because I still prefer working with AI's interface and color selectors over the Flash IDE.

And, of course, ...

I think I mentioned this in an older comment somewhere, but it was such a great feeling and connection of neuroses when I was able to find an old sci-fi movie I vaguely remember watching as a kid ... based solely on a few scattered impressions and terms searched for via Google. I was reminded of it today, as I was sorting through some old image clippings that needed to be processed and uploaded.

This has been sitting in my "to finish" folder for quite some time and now thanks to all of the daily pieces I have been working on with the Blob Brush, I finally found a style I was okay with for this something special for all you iPhone users out there. Get ready for the Halloween season by putting this little moster guy on your shiny Apple screen.

Download the full 320 × 480 size here.

Since my beloved Mighty Mouse has not been functioning as preferred (specifically, the top and side buttons were not being recognized) I have been eagerly anticipating Apple's Fall product update so that I could look into getting whatever the new iteration of the mouse might be. Today Apple announced the new Magic Mouse and while I am very excited to try one out in person, I was less excited about the fact that it is ...

A cute lil dinosaur I drew up for Michelle's pita leftovers the other night. I have been wanting for a while to start a daily comic featuring a dino like this ... maybe soon??

I'm not really sure what it would be about or if it would even work to draw 'em that often, but after years of seeing the great things that Jim Davis(cartoonist) does with Garfield and Charles Shultz with Peanuts ... how could ...

The last few days have been full of a lot o' work ... creating code and pre-pro examples for students, updating curriculum in the classroom, then keeping busy through the wee hours of the night and morning creating for some Illustrative clients.

Thanks to Norm reminding me about how easy it is to setup local databases with MAMP or XAMPP, I have been having an easier time working with WordPress:http://wordpress.org lately. I will eventually need to ...

It appears that the AIR 1.5.1 runtime has a minor issue with re-maximizing windows after miniziming them to the Snow Leopard dock. I have submitted a bug request, so hopefully it will be fixed soon.

I also should probably start recording some sound when I am taking these screencasts with the new Quicktime X ... it's like I have been making them for a deaf person.

Jodie and I saw this guy walking down John Young yesterday, and I kid you not ... this is exactly what his beard and mustache combo looked like. It was big, fluffy, and so crazy long. It was also a misty white, with yellow/creme brown colored ends, but that is besides the point.

I'm not at all sure where he was headed or what was in his plastic bag, but he looks like a special breed ...

My mother only taught me a few things to do with a banana that is taking a turn towards the "caca". You can either make some delicious banana bread or a smooth and icey banana milkshake. I decided to go with the blend and document all of the yummy ingredients. Normally, it would need vanilla ice cream, but I happened to use strawberry for tonight's icey treat.

On an interesting side note, since our new place ...

It rained for days after your most recent visit.
My heart 'n the sky; both broken in agreement.
Every glance through the windshield and every peek over the dash,
is another moment, I wish I could outlast.
Falling rain drops; each, a feeling of your skin.
Breathing air 's no longer easy, since I'm breathing you right in.
I miss the days, when I'd drive all night to see you.
I miss the hours; all the minutes, are when I think I ...

Something special I drew just for Kane Miller's birthday. "Kane Smash, indeed!"
Simple pencils covered by some nice detailed Sakura Pigma Micron pens, ranging from 005 - 08 size. I should have some higher-res photos of it up on Flickr soon.

I found some photos of FCC of Boca's week at camp and I couldn't help but miss those wonderful days of summer and fun. Making scrambled eggs for two hundred people, flipping grilled cheese sandwiches like a pro, morning devotions on dewy grass, racing canoes, showering off after crazy mud football, winning n' losing ping pong and carpet ball tourneys, meeting my wife-to-be ... seriously ... I love that place.

If you haven't already, go watch ...

On Saturday, Courtney and I happened to catch a bit of "The Goonies" on TV ... the only way I'll watch it, since I still don't agree with its outdate PG rating and prolific cursing.

Since "Data" is of course my favorite goonie, I thought this sketch would be appropriate.