So, here I am - up all night working on this stupid project… Alone in the dark, with headphones clamped on, sitting typing clicking, etc…

I take a sip of coffee. I return to typing, and feel something cold and bumpy beneath my finger, on the “G” key.

An earwig.

“They’re harmless,” I smiled, getting up off the floor.

As I peered into the small cracks between the keys, I watched it wriggle hurriedly into the darkness between “T” and “6″.

Thankfully, I’d brought out the compressed air can earlier in the day (to clean the keyboard, haha) so it was right nearby.

Smoking him out wasn’t a problem. He soared into the living room, where the cat made short work of it.

Still, though… How am I supposed to get back to work, now?!

asdl wweurtwasdf asfj a132weryoqwi……..

Already, since my last post about my current project, some online colleagues have remarked to me their curiosity, snide cynicism, and playful criticism regarding the grayscale palette.

On this topic, Wikipedia offers this (generous) assessment:

Today black-and-white media often has a “nostalgic", historic, or anachronistic feel to it. […] Some modern film directors will occasionally shoot movies in black-and-white because they believe it captures their vision better.

Okay, but I’ll defend myself by saying that it really bugs me when the directing hand behind a creative project uses “black and white” solely as a way of proclaiming artistic merit within their work. …and often, that’s the case with grayscale implementation. Damn “artists"… what with their licenses, and whatnot.

I’m not really a fan of using any type of overall color treatment to exclusively make a narrative point. Take sepia tone, for example - hasn’t its overuse negated the original device? Now, its narrative use is all but a cliché.

The reasons I’ve gone with grayscale (for two consecutive projects) are different:

- A lot of it has to do with this gentleman and his direct, daily influence on me.

- Concrete, newsprint, macadam, and metal all typically exists in tones of gray, and all four materials are present throughout the game. The palette, hopefully, serves to emphasize their presence.

- The game is somewhat mundane (There, I said it). Are your growing bad days dark gray, or is it just me?

Besides; from a very boring technical standpoint, using an exclusively “desaturated” color palette eliminates the risk of the color misrepresentation between computer monitors. As a result, you can be more precise with the way you choose to represent things, visually - and you can ultimately be more confident that people are seeing what you’re seeing.
EDIT: Also, file size. A 2D game made with a small number of display colors is substantially smaller in size than a conventional one.

One last thing on this topic - I briefly considered casting the whole game in subdued green tones, like American paper currency.

But on second thought…. Nah.

Here are a few items of miscellany from the pile scattered across my house - As I whittle down the project, more and more pieces like this are piling up all over the place.

This project (which is tentatively named “Commerce, Unread”) uses the medium of a retail-simulation video game to tell stories that deal with social stratification, romance, commerce, and food.

There are four characters from which to choose - each with a unique living situation and ensuing dilemmas: A restless young bagel vendor, a widowed Newsagent, a single mom who runs a coffee hut, and a divorced hot dog veteran.

I expect to have this thing finished by the end of the month. You can listen to the (again, tentative) theme song, here. Please remember, haha, it’s a work in progress.

Talk is usually cheap. Maybe I’m being too cynical, but I figure you get about nine real chances to say something.

1. First Words

2. Yearbook Signing

3. Graduation / Commencement Ceremony

4. Closing Arguments (…)

5. Wedding Vows

6. Get Well Cards

7. Funeral Eulogies

8. Retirement Speech / Departing Email

9. Last Words

I’m forgoing love letters and things like that because any expression of romantic love is socially licensed at just about any time.

Maybe “sincere” isn’t exactly the word I’m trying to pin down… I’m trying to say that you only get a handful of opportunities to be heard and understood on premise alone. You won’t get that from a blog, you won’t get it at the bar, not when you’re receiving an award, and probably not even when your book gets published.

EDIT: Okay, maybe ten. After some thought, I’ve decided to add Letters Home From the War to this list.

I will be visiting Missoula shortly, after a one-day stop in Spokane. I plan to be there for about one week.

Missoula, if you don’t have my number, just send me an email! Let’s spend some time together! What’s your new thing?