HI! THANKS FOLKS! HERE'S A REAL JOURNAL

... -lly Balloo, here...Just wanted to start off my first real dA Journal of 2014 by saying thanks. Thanks. It was a very pleasant surprise to get the welcome back I recieved when I got back onto dA after being away for almost a year; it really meant a lot to me. Thanks, too, to everyone who has Faved my stuff, and for all the new Watchers. Even gotten a couple of new llamas, very nice! I've been blessed on dA with some terrific friends; it's nice to be back among them, and I hope to make more...

THE WHYS AND THE WHEREFORES

My time away from DA was nothing health-related; I know that was some peoples' thought, sorry to cause any undue concern, which I do appreciate. Last fall, my old computer-it was given to me by friends, it was about 8 years old, it ran on 'Vista' for pete's sake-finally crapped out on me. I was able to save the data from my HD, but the tower was done. It took me a month or two, but I finally got a new computer, a nice laptop. I still was stuck with a snail-speed dialup connection, but I could get online. Everywhere. Except for one website-Deviant Art. No matter what I tried to do, I could not log on at DA while on my dialup conection, anymore. However, in time, that problem resolved itself-in a manner I had never anticipated; my dialup connection began to fail on me, altogether...
That's where I stand now; an internet junkie without a connection. I have options; I've utilized them in the past, and will likely be doing so even more in the future. There's a couple of problems inherent in the public wi-fi route- One, the connection is 'unsecure', but that's not a really super-big concern; DA is probably the most 'dangerous' site I go to, hacker-wise, and my Avast has protected me faithfully. Then, there's B, which is a little thornier; the problem in perusing-to say nothing of uploading-the sort of imagery a dedicated footsoldier in "The Pervert Army" is likely to encounter on DA while sitting in a public library or the nearest McDonalds, if you know what I mean, and I think you do, say no more, nudge nudge...
Luckily, I have another option up my sleeve; I like to call it "My Best Option", because that's what it is. I have a very good, tech-savvy young friend who lives pretty close by to me; by close, I mean I've walked to & from his place-and I'm lazy. He has the best wi-fi package available to the public, which he's hooked my laptop up with. Even when the guy isn't home-his job takes him out of town a lot-I can still pick it up in my car, and never less than four bars. So, like I told my daughter, as long as my laptop battery holds out, and my back (or bladder)allows me to sit in my car, I can get online. Fortunately, we're having a pretty mild summer here in Indyanner so far this year; as long as the weather is cooperative, I'll be likely exercizing this last, Best Option as often as possible...
That's where it looks like it's going to stand for the time being, which is far from ideal, but better than nothing. I just can't afford cable or wi-fi in the house now; hopefully that will change, but that's the reality for now. There's some kind of X-finity deal now, where they have these wi-fi hotspot thingies you can connect up on for something like $10 month; they even have this in my backward suburb home-town, Beech Grove. I could afford that; and, if I lived like two blocks to the east or west, I could even connect to it... (

OTHER STUFF TO TALK ABOUT

I wish I could tell you that I did a lot of new drawing in the time I was offline/away. Sorry, that recent Jungle Janet drawing was the only drawing done in all that time. Still don't see that changing. I really wish I could afford to hire someone to draw the comics for me. I would love to work with an artist who would follow page layouts I'd rough out; I'd still be essentially 'directing' the comic with the script and layout, and the finished artwork would be done by someone who'd do an even better job of it. There'd be a lot of comics coming out here, if that were the case. For that matter, I'd love to do a Jungle Janet story in Poser; long as I'm hiring artists with imaginary money, I'd commission a talented DA Poser artist to do a JJ story or three, as well. Maybe if I got a lottery ticket or two...Anyroad, one thing I can do is continue uploading the pages I have of unseen comic art. There are still several pages pages of the unfinished "Adventure Island Tales" #2 left to post, and I will make a point of getting back to that story very soon. Beyond that-well, actually, yeah, there are still more unseen comics...What I was doing in all that time I was offline/away was writing. A lot of writing. A lot. A thing I've been working on, and reworking on, for years. It'll probably never amount to anything, but it's been an interesting exercise. Actually, I haven't even really begun working on 'The Story', yet. All my work so far has been backstory stuff; basically, creating the 'research' from which I will fashion 'The Story'. The best way to describe the thing is to say it will be sort of like the novel "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay"; my story uses real life people and events to structure a story about the movies, in the same way "Kavalier & Klay" fictionalized the birth of comic books. (Gotta admit, it kinda pains me to use "Kavalier & Klay" as an example, because I've been working on this thing on and off since the time that novel's author was graduating from high school) I've written substantial biographies for over fifty principal characters, and partial ones for maybe fifty more. I've written scores of pages' worth of 'interviews' with principal characters. Hundreds of synopses of fictional movies; some only a line or two, others running several paragraphs-maybe about 300 different ones, so far. I'm actually getting close to having enough backstory to quit using it as an excuse; I'll have to actually begin writing The Story Itself. That's the prospect that scares me. Prose fiction. No pictures. Scary. Never what I'd call my strong suit. I know good writing when I read it; writing it? That's another kettle of monkeys...
I want to get back to posting an occasional text piece here on DA. It's been very interesting since this laptop has given me the capability to join the 21st Century, and I've been able to sample some of the joys to be had from a speedy internet connection. Keep in mind, if you will, the online history of Your Obedient Servant- From the time I first got online, circa 1995, all I've ever had was a dialup connection; from 2007 to 2012, I had no computer of any kind; 2012-2013, I had an old, donated computer, but was still limited to a dialup connection; now, I have an easily transportable laptop, and easy wi-fi access. Everything is basically new to me! The first couple dozen times I bring my laptop over to my buddy's house, I'm like an Amish kid on Rumspringa! I've got a hell of an essay in me about You-Tube, and I've already started on that...

THE OLD PLUGOLA ROLL BLUES



Everyone's favorite Deviant Art-ist, Hai-Kulture, is joining her ever-present comic cohort cutie cut-up, MudIvy, in hosting her very second "Summer Mud Fun" Art Exhibition! Last year's inaugural Exhibition was THE dA social event of the season; in fact, it came in second only to the 'Cat Revolution' of April 1, 2012, as "All-Time Best dA Social Event" in a Poll I just made up-er, I mean 'researched'. Misses HK and Ivy always get some fantastic entries from some of the finest talents to be found on dA. Go check it out for yourself; even better, take off your shoes and socks, join in the fun!

hai-kulture.deviantart.com



If I did this correctly, above you should see Mister Prickly. He is a cartoonist, a writer, a 3-D modeler, an animator, a game builder, a comedian, a You-Tube personality, a masked wrestler. He is the official, authorized chronicler of the continuing adventures of Barbi The Barbarienne. His terrific work can be found on his Barbi "Yahoo" group, and here on dA-

misterprickly.deviantart.com

ANYTHING ELSE

Any of you folks out there from Blighty catch any of the Python reunion shows? Would love to hear from anyone who might've seen them; it would have been a great show to see...
I read that Weird Al Yankovic's new album made it to #1 on the charts. Only one other comedy album has ever made it to #1; that was "The First Family" in 1963. The real kick is, he beat a lot of impressive names, who had new material debuting around that same time. I like Weird Al. There are other 'comedy album' performers whom I hold in higher regard; but Weird Al is undeniably very funny, and his songs are always really well produced. They bear listening with headphones; he does a lot of multi-tracking, and you'll often find little bits of comic foolishness buried deep into the mix. Being a collector of funny and strange audio, it just made me smile to earn that a comedy album was #1 on the record chart. Something always comes along to renew my faith in humanity...
Still steadfastly avoiding Facebook, here. I know, I'm probably missing out on a lot of neat stuff; I'm certainly out-of-the-loop in regards to a lot of family matters (gossip)(shit-stirring) cuz that's where it all takes place. But, you know, I've come to peace with the reality that I'm just never going to a party to every image, drawing, video, audio, game, social media, website, or interactive media yet to be created-that might catch my fancy, pique my interest, get me thinking, turn me on, make me horny, or otherwise entertain me to one degree or another. I'll never catch 25% of it; if I do, I'm spending too much time online surfing around. Remember, I'm the guy who had no computer at all for over five years; to this day, I've never had a cell phone. What I am able to do online right now really suits me fine. It's more than enough-I'm doing fine without Twitter, without Tumblr, and especially without Facebook. It's too big. Scary. Apocalyptic. I'm hoping it's gotten so big, it will turn around; because it can't possibly be "cool" to be on Facebook-right? The TV stations have Facebook pages. The local plumbers have Facebook pages. Tide detergent has a Facebook page. Soon, the "cool" ones will be the rebellious holdouts, such as Your Obedient Servant; the people who DON'T have a Facebook page. As soon as that happens, their stats will plummet, and I think we'll all be better off...

That's probably enough for now...Thank you again, ladles and germanmen, for your support and friendship. You've been a wonderful audience, and an even better oil painting, va-voom!
>ahem<...Sorry...
Well, that...that's all from beautiful,um...here...>ahem< For, now, this is Wal   Ba  oo si  ing off, and r  inding yo  all to "wri   f yo  et wor ". .