Painted Wave
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The Twilight Perspective
Midnight Hall
A little carry over posting for the weekend of an alternative setup to the Shrouded Hall wallpaper. Its something of a darker night time perspective.
Shrouded Hall
Shrouded Hall
Another abstract piece for everyone tonight. With a full compliment of sizes brought about by a couple request emails. So if you were one of those, here they are. The name is derived from the way this wallpaper looks horizontally. The dark bands appear somewhat like connecting pillars in a cathedral like hallway.
Still have one or two more walls planned for this weekend. Combined with some content additions to the pre-existing walls. Things like updating a full size compliment for every wall and new colors. And hopefully the revival of the sarcastic portion of the blog. It has been woefully lacking for a while now.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Patterns in the Earth
Hewn Stone
(Note: Links marked with a small star are new.)
Well after much mental and certain amounts of bizarre third person discussion I came up with a wallpaper. Based on a background texture I created a while ago you have this, which reminded me highly of fresh cut stone (thus the name) and it seemed relaxing in nature. Complete with two new standard sizes. Hope you enjoy.
As to that interesting blog roll, well lets just say things got out of hand. When I picked out this blog theme I didn't give it much thought other than it looked a whole lot better than what ever it was I previously had. Among these being how easily you could actually read the text, and also a background that properly illuminated everything. But the drawback is the lack of any real banner, and the fact it has no built in menu's that aren't manually construct. This mostly means no easy flow blog roll, but that doesn't bother me, its just the name of the game for the moment.
Since creating a blog roll meant a nifty hand made menu I decided that it might as well be unique in its own right. Especially since this blog theme was just such a creature all on its own. So I chose after each dash to put a small blurb on what I thought described each blog (but if I couldn't come up with anything I just used what was already there temporarily) and its contents. And thus far I think most of them do the job pretty well. In the event that the owner of any of the blogs contained within don't think my description fits, and have a better one, or a suggestion for improvement, don't hesitate to tell me. Just remember I like to keep them unique, not just a rehash of whats written on blog titles (I'm big on keeping with originality).
-Icons still on the horizon. The first ones made on the computer, with others created out of photos coming in late September. Also expect new colors of existing wallpapers, and of course still more brand new ones yet to come as time and inspiration are found.
False Agent
( This is a little short story I wrote quite a while ago. Magically rediscovered in the dark archives that I call my backup documents. )
It was a bright, sunny day in southern California as Rob Telrin steadily drove north in his old beat up Ford Pickup. His suit tie flapped in the breeze from the open window and his faded black suit jacket was wrinkled at the edges. A faint acrid smell began to waft into the vehicle as he approached Bakersfield, the location of his first objective.
“Processing plant must be starting up early,” he muttered under his breath. “This might complicate things”.
Not long after, he arrived in Bakersfield, exiting and heading directly to the large corporate office at the far end of the street. Rob was beginning to grow nervous and a tad anxious. The last objective had been extremely complicated. Someone had snitched on his mission and now foreign agents were hounding his tail.
He pulled up with his truck in front of the large office building. Parking in the back lot so as not to be seen, he turned off the engine and grabbed his revolver.
“Rexon International” he swore as he slammed the driver side door shut. “Should have known these bastards would get involved”.
As he approached the front door, the guard at the front desk eyed the newcomer briefly before noting the faded suit jacket and tie. Nodding him on towards the elevator in the back he returned to reading his magazine. But this wasn't Rob's goal. No, he had other plans. Heading for the elevator, he took a sharp turn off to the left and headed down into the stairwell. Moving down into the lower levels of the building, he entered the sub-basement storage area. But before he could barely get the door ajar he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. There was a security guard on duty just inside and, unlike his lazy compatriot, this one was fully vigilant.
Taking a deep breath, Rob burst through the door, drawing his revolver and training it on the guard. “Freeze!” he yelled, still standing in the doorway. “Don't move, I'm an FBI agent. Just cooperate and nobody gets hurt.”
“Alright sir, just calm down, I'll do what ever you want. Just take it easy,” the guard said, shaking visibly as he stood, hands in the air, behind his desk. He had received multiple training courses on how to handle these situations before. And the only thing that he could remember was to stay calm... Yeah, stay calm and hit the little red button under his desk with his knee. None of the other training came to him as he shakily marched down the hall. This tall stranger in the faded suit and tie trailing close behind with the revolver trained on his head.
“Don't be so damn shaky boy,” Rob said as he followed slowly behind the young man. “I ain't gonna hurt ya if you just stay quiet and do as I say.” He pushed the young man forward, gesturing him to hurry along. It wouldn't do to linger too long in one place. Not with agents on his tail.
The two soon arrived at the end of the long corridor, standing before a large blank door. On the right was a small touch pad. Rob pointed with his revolver. “Open that up, there, boy.” he said, indicating the touch pad again with his right hand. “And be quick about it, I got places to be!”.
The guard wasted no time opening the door, shaking even more violently than he had before. His seven digit security code did the trick and the door quietly clicked and slid open. On the other side stood a small table with a small yellow box in the center. The side with the handle held a small lock and a four button keypad. Rob, now with a satisfied smirk on his face, turned to the guard. “Thanks for all your help son, but this is as far as we go.”
The guard barely had a chance to look up as Rob cuffed him across the left temple, knocking him out cold. Stepping lightly over the still form of the guard, he proceeded to the small box on the table. Taking a brief moment to ensure it wasn't bugged, he snagged it up and dashed down the corridor.
He barely made it a third of the way back to the stairs before the alarm system went off. Skidding to a quick stop, Rob frantically looked around.”The stupid little shit pulled the alarm on me! Damn!” Even more frantic now he kicked open the nearest side door and jumped inside. Looking around, he flipped up the desk and filing cabinet near the back of the small room and crouched behind it. Heart pounding he trained his revolver at the only door in, waiting. He didn't have to wait long as it turned out, several figures darted past as they ran down the hallway. Believing that their target was still in the room at the far end.
Slowly, creeping his way over to the door, he nudged it open far enough to permit him a view of the hallway leading back down to the room he had just left. Sure enough, there stood four enemy agents, all gathered around the crumpled for of the guard. Letting out a slow breath he pulled open the door and began walking back up towards the stairs, sparing a brief glance back to make sure that nobody had noticed him yet.
Just as he was turning back around, he heard a gruff voice speak. “Hold it right there, Mr. Telrin.” Whirling around he found himself standing face to face with the largest man he had ever seen. He towered over him, pointing a large handgun level with his head. “Don t make a move sir. We have the place surrounded. We have been following you for a long time sir, ever since that theft in Aspen. You're wanted by a lot of people, sir. Just come quietly now”.
This was a dangerous situation and Rob couldn't deny his terror. He had only a couple options left. He could play along and hope to escape later, or he could risk a fast dash out the back door and hope that he could dodge any shots that were clearly aiming right for his head.
The large burly man wasn't about to wait for him to make a decision however. Brow furrowed, he started to lean down to grab Rob by the collar. Seeing his only opening, Rob acted. Throwing all his weight into the large man's upper legs, Rob struggled to destabilize his captor. Toppling over, the large man gave a loud yell as his head smacked against the gray floor tiles, weapon bouncing away down the hallway. Rob now running as fast as he could, dashed towards the stairs at the far end.
He made it to the stairway quickly, the sound of footfalls not far behind him. Racing up the stairs, he made it only five feet out of the door before he found himself face down on the floor. It was pretty much over now, there were two men on top of him. Another seven or eight men surrounded him, weapons trained on his body. The yellow case and his gun were torn from his grip by pairs of unseen hands. No matter how he struggled, the weight on his back didn't budge.
“We have you Mr. Telrin, just give it up. We have you with several counts of theft, burglary, larsceny and espionage. Just come quietly now and we won't have to do anything painful,” said a short man standing farther to the back of the group. He had a rather official bearing to him, with broad set shoulders and a small angular face. Yeah, this would be the head of field operations, he was finished.
It was a great many weeks later before the towns people of Bakersfield would learn exactly what happened at the headquarters of Rexon International. The news would announce that an older gentlemen who was wanted by the FBI and federal law enforcement had broken in and attempted to steal a top secret micro-processor. Believing himself to be a top ranking field agent with the FBI and CIA, he had stolen several other rare and top secret items from around the country, terrorizing numerous individuals along the way. What the public was pleased to hear was that he was undergoing intensive evaluation, with early reports describing him as a severely mentally unstable individual.
- The End
There is a wallpaper coming, but its slow. I have been pretty dried out on inspiration recently, so its just a matter of patience. Given enough time staring at snippets and other old bits of work, eventually something presents itself.
Also starting to work on a page full of random profile stock icons, for anyone that enjoys keeping a pile of those handy.
It was a bright, sunny day in southern California as Rob Telrin steadily drove north in his old beat up Ford Pickup. His suit tie flapped in the breeze from the open window and his faded black suit jacket was wrinkled at the edges. A faint acrid smell began to waft into the vehicle as he approached Bakersfield, the location of his first objective.
“Processing plant must be starting up early,” he muttered under his breath. “This might complicate things”.
Not long after, he arrived in Bakersfield, exiting and heading directly to the large corporate office at the far end of the street. Rob was beginning to grow nervous and a tad anxious. The last objective had been extremely complicated. Someone had snitched on his mission and now foreign agents were hounding his tail.
He pulled up with his truck in front of the large office building. Parking in the back lot so as not to be seen, he turned off the engine and grabbed his revolver.
“Rexon International” he swore as he slammed the driver side door shut. “Should have known these bastards would get involved”.
As he approached the front door, the guard at the front desk eyed the newcomer briefly before noting the faded suit jacket and tie. Nodding him on towards the elevator in the back he returned to reading his magazine. But this wasn't Rob's goal. No, he had other plans. Heading for the elevator, he took a sharp turn off to the left and headed down into the stairwell. Moving down into the lower levels of the building, he entered the sub-basement storage area. But before he could barely get the door ajar he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. There was a security guard on duty just inside and, unlike his lazy compatriot, this one was fully vigilant.
Taking a deep breath, Rob burst through the door, drawing his revolver and training it on the guard. “Freeze!” he yelled, still standing in the doorway. “Don't move, I'm an FBI agent. Just cooperate and nobody gets hurt.”
“Alright sir, just calm down, I'll do what ever you want. Just take it easy,” the guard said, shaking visibly as he stood, hands in the air, behind his desk. He had received multiple training courses on how to handle these situations before. And the only thing that he could remember was to stay calm... Yeah, stay calm and hit the little red button under his desk with his knee. None of the other training came to him as he shakily marched down the hall. This tall stranger in the faded suit and tie trailing close behind with the revolver trained on his head.
“Don't be so damn shaky boy,” Rob said as he followed slowly behind the young man. “I ain't gonna hurt ya if you just stay quiet and do as I say.” He pushed the young man forward, gesturing him to hurry along. It wouldn't do to linger too long in one place. Not with agents on his tail.
The two soon arrived at the end of the long corridor, standing before a large blank door. On the right was a small touch pad. Rob pointed with his revolver. “Open that up, there, boy.” he said, indicating the touch pad again with his right hand. “And be quick about it, I got places to be!”.
The guard wasted no time opening the door, shaking even more violently than he had before. His seven digit security code did the trick and the door quietly clicked and slid open. On the other side stood a small table with a small yellow box in the center. The side with the handle held a small lock and a four button keypad. Rob, now with a satisfied smirk on his face, turned to the guard. “Thanks for all your help son, but this is as far as we go.”
The guard barely had a chance to look up as Rob cuffed him across the left temple, knocking him out cold. Stepping lightly over the still form of the guard, he proceeded to the small box on the table. Taking a brief moment to ensure it wasn't bugged, he snagged it up and dashed down the corridor.
He barely made it a third of the way back to the stairs before the alarm system went off. Skidding to a quick stop, Rob frantically looked around.”The stupid little shit pulled the alarm on me! Damn!” Even more frantic now he kicked open the nearest side door and jumped inside. Looking around, he flipped up the desk and filing cabinet near the back of the small room and crouched behind it. Heart pounding he trained his revolver at the only door in, waiting. He didn't have to wait long as it turned out, several figures darted past as they ran down the hallway. Believing that their target was still in the room at the far end.
Slowly, creeping his way over to the door, he nudged it open far enough to permit him a view of the hallway leading back down to the room he had just left. Sure enough, there stood four enemy agents, all gathered around the crumpled for of the guard. Letting out a slow breath he pulled open the door and began walking back up towards the stairs, sparing a brief glance back to make sure that nobody had noticed him yet.
Just as he was turning back around, he heard a gruff voice speak. “Hold it right there, Mr. Telrin.” Whirling around he found himself standing face to face with the largest man he had ever seen. He towered over him, pointing a large handgun level with his head. “Don t make a move sir. We have the place surrounded. We have been following you for a long time sir, ever since that theft in Aspen. You're wanted by a lot of people, sir. Just come quietly now”.
This was a dangerous situation and Rob couldn't deny his terror. He had only a couple options left. He could play along and hope to escape later, or he could risk a fast dash out the back door and hope that he could dodge any shots that were clearly aiming right for his head.
The large burly man wasn't about to wait for him to make a decision however. Brow furrowed, he started to lean down to grab Rob by the collar. Seeing his only opening, Rob acted. Throwing all his weight into the large man's upper legs, Rob struggled to destabilize his captor. Toppling over, the large man gave a loud yell as his head smacked against the gray floor tiles, weapon bouncing away down the hallway. Rob now running as fast as he could, dashed towards the stairs at the far end.
He made it to the stairway quickly, the sound of footfalls not far behind him. Racing up the stairs, he made it only five feet out of the door before he found himself face down on the floor. It was pretty much over now, there were two men on top of him. Another seven or eight men surrounded him, weapons trained on his body. The yellow case and his gun were torn from his grip by pairs of unseen hands. No matter how he struggled, the weight on his back didn't budge.
“We have you Mr. Telrin, just give it up. We have you with several counts of theft, burglary, larsceny and espionage. Just come quietly now and we won't have to do anything painful,” said a short man standing farther to the back of the group. He had a rather official bearing to him, with broad set shoulders and a small angular face. Yeah, this would be the head of field operations, he was finished.
It was a great many weeks later before the towns people of Bakersfield would learn exactly what happened at the headquarters of Rexon International. The news would announce that an older gentlemen who was wanted by the FBI and federal law enforcement had broken in and attempted to steal a top secret micro-processor. Believing himself to be a top ranking field agent with the FBI and CIA, he had stolen several other rare and top secret items from around the country, terrorizing numerous individuals along the way. What the public was pleased to hear was that he was undergoing intensive evaluation, with early reports describing him as a severely mentally unstable individual.
- The End
There is a wallpaper coming, but its slow. I have been pretty dried out on inspiration recently, so its just a matter of patience. Given enough time staring at snippets and other old bits of work, eventually something presents itself.
Also starting to work on a page full of random profile stock icons, for anyone that enjoys keeping a pile of those handy.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Reshaping the Recent
Orange Aurora
The other day when I created the Aurora Borealis wall it wasn't until after it was all formatted out and uploaded that the colors started to bug me. Later after much experimentation and deliberation with myself in a very creep third person conversation, I just decided to make it a solid color blend. But after taking a look yesterday and today it seems the other, despite how much the colors might bug me, is pretty popular. So rather than completely replace it, I will just offer the alternative. There is also vast potential for other color variations, depending on the reception it gets.
Things yet to come next week (hopefully):
>The start of the Zodiac series. Beginning with Pisces.
>Graphic calendars, starting with September and working from there.
>1 - 2 new random wallpapers when ever the inspiration hits me.
>Alcot Sirk themed wall, I dont know when this will happen, but it may appear sooner rather than later.
>Do those updates that I vaguely described on twitter. Including expanding the blogroll, formatting the old wallpapers, etc.
New formats on the horizon:
>1920 x 1200
>Dual Screen walls, starting with 3360 x 1050
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Most people I know love fall for the colors of the trees, or the crisping in the morning air, and even the shortening days if your a night owl. Unfortunately I am really not a yellows and browns and dirty orange sort of person. And no matter where Ive lived the reds have been few and far between (though a good rich red maple tree still has the ability to relax me, if briefly). That crisp feeling in the morning is nice, but the chance that I wake up in that middle zone between sleeping in and waking up so early I'm numb to the world is pretty slim.
No to me fall is mostly the herald to winter, and we don't get along all that well. Which is odd, but thats life.
It used to be that Autumn was when I started getting excited for ski season, even with it off in the distance yet. But it was a nice reminder that soon I will be able to hit the slopes, alone or with some friends, and have a great time of it. Thus from the moment A-basin opened (A-basin is more or less the ski resort that is always the first to open, and the last the close) until it closed it would be grinding the slopes and tearing up a handful of black diamonds I cared for. But on a completely random day on a random year with the ski season having just begun I woke up and didn't want to ski anymore. It was just weird, having been a pretty avid slope going for several years. Sometimes there just isn't any explanation, and its what makes being human more interesting. And since that morning I haven't been back up on the slopes but sparingly when friends or relatives from out of towns want to hit up some skiing or snowboarding (I can do both, but I prefer ski's likely because its what I learned first) and that's when the tough guy macho talk ends. I don't care what the slopes are like in places like Minnesota or where ever, but when you go to the Rockies, those are real black diamonds, and I have no trouble calling some shit and dragging a cousin or two down them.
So now snow is really less of an ally and more of a constant annoyance ready to drop by and rain on the parade. Because of where I live, and the fact that to this day Im still working with horses, snow just amounts to a massive muddy mess. And the chance that it actually snows enough in Denver to give me a day off are chances on par with winning the lottery. Yet my nemesis winter (who for what ever reason I named Alur at some point) likes to give me plenty of snow. The silver lining I suppose is at least you get a few brief respites from weather even in the cold months for things to either dry off, or just stay frozen and solid in all but name. So its just an intermittent pest, which is why I don't put too much thought or meaning to too many of the seasons. Even summer and spring only barely get a brief smidge in my mind aside from to say "oh yeah, I should prolly check and see if those flowers are still alive".
And it appears that Qwest has actually deemed my area worthy of real internet now. So sometime in what remains of the year I might actually be able to multitask on the web like a full fledged fiend again at home.
Random Excerpts from my sketch book on Symbols:
Alur - Keeper of winter
Arkrenor - Matriarch of the Summer cycle. Curator of the flame
Tilluna - Essence binder of Spring
Varsi - Warden of first frost. Herald of Autumn
-These were created originally as notes for a short story that never was. Its hard to say if they will ever see a story beyond my sketch books.
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