ONE MORE!

YEAH

More slideshow!

Really, just added to an old one, but new pics are always nice, right?

ONE DOWN

That's a final that's down. Nobody died, DON'T WORRY.

I have two finals left, but I honestly believe this was the hardest one.

And this is the end of my blog. Might have been the shortest one so far.

Zaijian!
Du Kai

The other day...oh yeah, and today too

So the other day (see, I'm not above re-using the title in my writing!), my friends invited me to go sing karaoke with them. While it might have been a good thing to say "yes" and get out of the room for a little bit, I had a feeling that I was going to do something that night that would be good for Age of Thieves. I didn't know whether it was a greater focus on writing itself or doing something else, but I was in the "right mood".

Well, I didn't get any writing done...but I did get something equally important done.

I drew a map.

I've been meaning to do that for a LONG time, but I've just never sat down and done it. I'm a little afraid of drawing because I know I'm not a good artist. Even if I worked at it, I wouldn't be very good. But this is something that I had to do. Nobody else could draw the world of Age of Thieves for me; otherwise, I would lose all connection to it. So I sat down, drew out a rough draft on one piece of paper, then sat down with two other pieces of paper, carefully lined them up (yeah, I needed that much room for details and such), and began drawing. I had in my mind some ideas of where I wanted things to be. I also had planned out some natural geography, including where some plate tectonics where (I got that into detail. Go me!), what the shape of the continents were supposed to be, and what would be important to the story. When I finished my first draft, I was pretty pleased...but I knew it wasn't done yet. So another hour and a half later of erasing coastal lines, making things more jagged, adding in bays and whatnot, I finally had my final product. I wish I could show it to you, but I wouldn't trust my camera to capture it accurately, and I don't have a scanner. Needless to say, I am very proud of myself for creating what I did, even if there is no color nor any topography on it. I also apparently can't draw islands, so I left them out entirely.... Point is, I expanded my boundaries, and now, if I want someone else to do some drawings for me, I can hand them these pieces of paper, point, and say, "It should look like THIS." How cool is that?

Speaking of this, I'm looking for someone to be my "to-go" person as far as drawing is concerned. I will use the term "hiring" because it WILL involve some pay. My idea is this: I will pay on commission for specific drawings (a fair price decided beforehand, then re-evaluated after the final product, just so I'm not getting stiffed either), and the artist will retain partial rights to any products, so if Age of Thieves were to become published and much money were to be had, the artist would not be left out in the cold in any of that.

I'm serious when I'm saying this. I want Age of Thieves to do well, and I think part of that is having good art to go with it. I'm looking for a partner to help with a great lot of this since this isn't my forte. Heck, if we wanted to, we could make a graphic novel of it! I'd LOVE to do that. So I need someone equally serious and equally dedicated. I haven't been in recent years, but I swear that I will be soon, with or without an artist.

So if you are interested or know someone who might be, please have them get in touch with me. Post a comment or send a message to this blog relaying contact info (my stuff is on my info page), and we'll talk. We'll also probably talk more upon my return from China.

SPEAKING OF CHINA!

I went to Tiger Hill today. It is a local Suzhou tourist attraction, and a fun one at that. There's a pagoda that leans like the Leaning Tower of Pisa but is both larger and older, and a few other sites with fun stories behind them. Basically, though, it was just a very scenic spot. I'll post pictures soon, I promise. Only reason I don't do it now is because IT'S VERY COLD HERE and my fingers have almost no heat left after typing all that I just did.

Can't buy Xi'an ticket until tomorrow...which I kinda don't like, but OH WELL. At least I'm going. Then I'll have even MORE pictures.

Less than two weeks, people! I'm almost home.

Zaijian!

Du Kai

Other travel places

As my time in China comes to a close, I've begun to think if I want to travel elsewhere.

The answer?

Not for a while.

But yes.

I haven't realized it, but my mind has been building up a series of places that I want to go to before my untimely demise. A list of these places includes (but is not limited to:

Machu Picchu.
Sydney, Australia (mainly to see the Opera House).
Easter Island.
An Aztec pyramid.
Ireland.
Japan (mainly Tokyo, but also other places).
Possibly Egypt...I am undecided, truth be told.
Greece.
Italy (Rome and Venice, specifically).

I don't know if I'll ever be able to go to all of them, but hey, I came to China, didn't I? I think Machu Picchu will be next one.... How about a world tour, huh?!

I've been blogging nearly every day for a while, haven't I? Suppose that's a good thing, overall.

Oh, by the way, I've decided that I'm going to Xi'an, specifically to see the terracotta army. That should be great fun! I'm also planning on stopping at a few pagodas as well...don't know which ones, though.

Alright, I'm done. Man, I made a lot of double spacing between thoughts in this particular blog....

Zaijian!
Du Kai

Would it be weird?

If I were to buy glasses, not for reading purposes, but for style? Would that be weird?

I've had so many people tell me I look better with glasses, and truth be told, I think so as well. But I don't know, does that come off as extremely hipster? If I were to get some fake ones, they probably wouldn't be the big black bulky frames that are "in style"; I'd probably get some sleeker looking ones.

Weird thoughts...I have them.

Random note for the day

Something I meant to blog about after it happened but just never got around to it.

One of my teachers, while explaining a phrase in Chinese, proceeded to say one of the funniest things I've heard while here.

"Bling bling de".

That's right, she used "bling bling". The "de" just made it an adjective. So basically, she said that the object was bling-blinging.

That made me so incredibly happy, you have no idea. :)

By the way, again, if you'd like anything from China, please let me know. And I mean "anything". I may not get gifts for everyone because, well, I don't know WHAT to get. I have a bunch of postcards that you are free to look at, and the pictures are up for grabs. But other than immediate family members and close friends, I probably won't get something for everyone. I feel like I want to, but it's just not in the cards.