I must be really really really busy to not update my site until now right? Kinda.

I just moderated 332 comments here - all of which are spam in all their evil incarnations. I’m going to check out the latest version of WordPress to see if it’s worth the hassle of upgrading. I hate spam. I’ll also organize the site a bit better now that I finally understood the concept of pages in WordPress. Before I go do my semi-regular spring cleaning, here are some minor updates in my life for those of you still curious…

Work takes up the bulk of my waking life - it’s been unrelenting since the day I got back to the office. To say that there’s a lot of work to be done is an understatement. Right now I’m handling a few modules plus a few non-academic duties and still getting used to the workings of the system. It does seem like I’m inevitably falling back into my pre-Bournemouth routine (almost). The pace is a little overwhelming at times which is to be expected. I probably just need a bit more time to get into my own personal groove. And I’m still resisting reverting completely. Mind you, I’m not complaining. I’m still really enjoying doing what I do. Really! You know what they say, if it’s all sunshine and roses and endless fun it wouldn’t be called work. I’m especially looking forward to the new animation module I’m developing for the coming semester. I have some interesting and (hopefully) fun ideas to implement and can’t wait to try them out!

Family-wise everything is back to normal (as normal can be in a house with two hyperactive little boys!). We bought a new car - a tango red Honda Civic 1.8 VTi-S. It’s one of the coolest looking (non-continental) cars on the road now imho and has some decent specs for its make. Besides, I’ve always trusted the brand so we’re very happy with the purchase even though it did set us back quite a bit. My wife is happy being close to her family again. And the easy access to food and groceries and assorted creature comforts means less hassle for her. I think she prefers being back home, all things considered. My son Amil (2.5 yrs old) will officially join his big brother Adib (4 yrs old) in pre-school starting next January. They’re as boisterous as ever I’m afraid. I still find it cute how strangers mistake them for twins on first impression especially when we push them around in their twin stroller. I chalk it down to the slightly similar size, matching clothes and home-made haircuts. Rest assured they can be quite different in character though. Right now Adib’s favourite TV shows are Spongebob Squarepants, Catdog and Dora the Explorer; with Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine and Barney coming in a close second. He still occasionally obsesses about vehicles especially buses (though not as badly as before). He’s also able to sing along to the national anthem reasonably well. And he’s got a rudimentary Thomas the Tank Engine railway system set up in the living room. Amil shares some of Adib’s interests obviously - often seen seated beside his brother staring at the TV or getting noisily shanghaied into participating in Adib’s choice of play. More often than not he spends most of the time fighting his big brother off. Amil does seem to enjoy jumping around a lot more though… and he shows no special interest in buses. In fact he doesn’t seem to have a particular obsession just yet. If anyone knows a way to prevent my kids from growing up too fast do e-mail me. No spam please!

In case you were wondering what happened to the big plans I raised for my animated short “Wait, Mister” (i.e. submitting to festivals and competitions), all I can say is - I’ve been procrastinating. It’s not that there aren’t any events to participate, it’s just I haven’t been trying hard enough. I’m dragging my feet badly on this one. I promise to put more effort into it from now on though… I don’t think it’s too late yet. Anyways, you may be pleased (or not) to know that I’ve started work on a couple of new personal projects to keep my creative juices flowing. I’m picking up Maya at the moment and hope to do some little animation exercises with it - I hope to upload them for critique. Who knows, I may even start *gasp* another animated short some time in the future. That’s still a hazy pipe dream though, so don’t get all excited just yet. Of a more solid development is a little comic project I’m working on with a very good friend of mine. He’s the writer and I’m handling penciling duties (and maybe inking if we really can’t find anyone else). He’s got some great ideas and we’re looking to turn in a nice little run with this project. Coincidentally, I came across this little nugget a couple of days back: “First-Time Writers and Illustrators Publishing Initiative”
Tell me. Is that destiny or what?!

OK. That’s it for today. See you sooner rather than later I hope!

This entry was posted on Monday, December 11th, 2006 at 5:49 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.