Movage!

Hey, everyone! This blog has been moved to tomnjess.com (for anybody who actually reads this.)

Whose bright idea ...

Someone who shall remain nameless had the bright idea to get Thomas a freaking sword for his birthday, and I'm 88% sure something like this is going to happen one day.



Tee hee.

Newwssss....

Over the weekend, Star Valley went to Rock Springs for the State Drama competition. It was great fun, and we represented the school well. Here's a rundown of the awards Jessica and I won:

Tommy
Original Script, Two Person Scene: 2nd place
Original Script, 1 Act Play: 3rd place (you can read both of them here.)
Dramatic Monologue: 3rd place (average of two scores)
Honorable mention for Proscenium play.

Jessie-poo
Costume Design, 1st year: 1st place, All-State
Publicity, 1st year: All-State (probably third)
Humorous Monologue: All-State
All-State for Arena play.

Our school also tied for the sweepstakes award, which is something that is supposedly cool, but I do not understand.

Anyhow, announcing all of this has reminded me of something that is really important. When you do something, whether it be sports, the arts, machining--whatever--you should do it not to garner awards or make money, but because you love it.

I have seen many people become infuriated just because they didn't win something like a state title or a blue ribbon at the county fair. These are the people who give up. If you can find the love in what you do, it will stick with you for the rest of your life. I hope I never lose sight of that.


On a cooler note, check this website out: Librivox!
(Pretty cool, it's like open source audio books, I actually recorded a chapter from James Fenmore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans, if you want to listen go here: Chapter 4)

Supa cool announcement!

Remember that announcement I was talking about? Well, it's here!

The Ultimate X-Men approve this message.

I am so excited, I hope Jessica is too! Wheeee! My dreams are coming true!

SHORTEST POST EVA!

Cranky Ol' Jess

I think I'll begin starting these kinds of posts with "Jess is a Cranky Old Lady."

Jess is a Cranky Old Lady #6
I recently went to Utah for a Thanksgiving bonzanza. We stayed in a Best Western. From what I could hear, there was a family the size of Chuckie Freaking Cheese's in the room next to me, and I was about ready to have an aneurysm. This "DAD", or whoever the loud man was, would let his little kids run up and down the halls in the middle of the night, screaming and slamming doors.

We had the privelege of hearing some poor little girl wail her heart out after she got locked out of her room for about fifteen minutes.

Someone kept slamming their door as hard as they could every five minutes and it would shake the walls.

And by golly, it made me, mild-mannered Jess, get up and poke my head out the door, tyring to catch these elusive retards with The Evil Eye.

Luckily for them, I got bored with that pursuit and went back to watching South Park.

End of Jess Is a Cranky Old Lady #6

But just so y'all know I'm not a child-hating piece of crap, I'd like to inform you of the service project I helped with this week: I went to a kindergarten class and helped kids make sock puppets for a puppet show. The kids gathered around me and hugged my knees. Then I gave every one of them a pastel-colored pony and a handful of candy, and then we all went to McDonald's for a Happy Meal.*



* 25% of this statement is an utter lie

Excitement!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but rest assured, there will be a cool announcement in the near future. For now I just have one of the greatest videos of all time:





(PS: Read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, it's freaking awesome!

A tiny thought from Jess.

This is a short one, but it's been running through my head for a while.

If I had to choose between making a sophisticated adventure video game for teens/adults, or a less-sophisticated game for kids, I'd probably go with the kids. When you're a kid and you play a really cool game, you remember it forever. You think back on those puzzles that seemed so impossible, those enemies that seemed so hard to beat, the story, etc.

On the other hand, if you play a cool game as a teenager, you certainly recognize it as being an awesome game that satisfies your maturing tastes, but will you ever have that same nostalgia you have for that ol' Sega Genesis / N64 game you used to play nonstop?


Man, I wanna make games so bad. Not just draw for them, either - but design the story, the puzzles, the maps, everything.

Everything except the code. A ha. I couldn't do code.