So, I wrote this giant paper last weekend on webcomics, and I just got all the rough drafts back Friday. Actually, that even isn't true because I gave one to my mentor to look over during the weekend. Anyhow, it was reviewed by three other kids plus two teachers.

I'll come back to that.

This comic started as an inside joke. Tyler lent Joel his Deicide CD (a band I heard one song from). By coincidence, his brother's laptop died when he tried to rip music off it. Tyler joked that Deicide was just too AWESOME for the laptop to handle.

When I told Joel about this one, he told me that he doesn't really like Deicide. I also guessed he didn't like Dashboard. Also, he used Windows Media Player, not Realplayer (like I use). Oh, well.

That screenshot actually came from my computer. I drew that background. Also, a fun hint: look at how many disk drives that lappy's got! Holy crap! :P

Even though this one's a bit dirty, and that doesn't really look a lot like Joel, I still like how the art turned out. Maybe it's the coloring? <shrug>

So... about that paper. It's HUGE. It is eight pages, ten font, single spaced. at twelve font and double-spaced it comes out at nearly 25 pages. For a high school paper this could KILL somebody. Or, at least take a solid hour for them to read.

Mostly, people said these sorts of things (ordered based on those six writing traits [pdf, apologies]):

• Craploads of ideas... but there's a little TOO much content--so many examples get confusing
• Organization natural, could use some transitioning
• VERY strong voice--Tyler could actually picture me giving a PowerPoint presentation to this, dressed like an engineer and with the quotes on the slides. That's almost sad.
• Most people didn't care about my word choice, but Mrs. Ernst said something about "action words"... Yecch. Sounds more like... metrosexual words.
• Sentence fluency usually okay, but some little problems--mostly with tense switching and really long (but technically correct) sentences
• Pretty much right on with conventions

Also, Mr. Stull suggested that I do some light formatting changes to my bibliography and endnoting style.

And, now for some quotes from Heidi, as she read my paper (which I got a kick out of):

• "Hey! I know him! Hi Ilja!" (When I quoted Ilja, a friend that moved to Washington way back in middle school)
• "I know you need sources to site, but you use examples every few lines. It gets confusing."
• "Is he related?" (When I mentioned Bill Holbrook, writer of Kevin and Kell)
• "Finally, Josh!" (As I mention myself in the second-to-last paragraph of the paper)

and, finally, at the end of my paper:

Dear Josh,
Great paper! Holy shit, I never thought I'd learn so much! I can follow your comic stories and see stuff in my head. Sprite comics? I know what they are!"

I need more of you throughout the paper Joshie boy. I waited and waited and the
BOOM! There you are!

Watch the examples. Pretend I am a girl who has no idea what you are talking about.

Wait...

~Heidi~

Anyhow, now I have to edit the damned thing. Woo... what fun. (Not, of course.) I'll put it on the internets when I'm done with it.

Last Sunday I read Largo's new comic, Uberclocked. I have mixed feelings. I don't think it's as good as the "glory days" of Megatokyo, but I'm also happy that it obviously isn't trying to BE Megatokyo either--it's completely different, except for the fact that there's still a Largo character. This is certainly a good thing.A lot of the comics are single-panel, and don't follow a typical setup-joke format, which is what the Megatokyo ones were more like. Maybe that was because of Fred's panel constraints or his influence on the story... who knows. Art-wise, it's okay (not too consistent) but getting better maybe. Still, I think if he tried some with a more standard form they might be funnier. Still, best of luck to the dude.

Friday I figured out how to rip music off my Nintendo 64. I now have music from Bomberman Hero (mislabeled as Bomberman 64 right now) and from Hot Wheels Turbo Racing. Next up is Wipeout 64.

I also filled out the paperwork for getting my dorm room and foodstuffs over at UAF. I decided on requesting a room on the right tower (versus the larger left one) because it sounded like the left tower had a larger party atmosphere. I do not party that well. I kinda hoped to get to more serious, smarter people in college, so... Still, I know good people from the left tower. So.. whatever happens, happens. Now I just have to hope for an awesome roommate that doesn't suck.

I think that's it for now... except that I still should say "Happy Easter" for all you religious/bunny-loving folks.

Peace ouR,

--Josh

P.S. Wow! Keenspace is PROBLEMATIC! If my domain can't be accessed, does it still exist? Hmm... Still, I appreciate the admins working on this. Luckily, they seem to have fixed it before it made me late.