Learning something new isn’t always easy. I suspect that’s why many people don’t like it, because in the long run you’ll have to deal with plenty of days where you will wonder why you started in the first place. This week’s “weekly smile” goes out to everyone struggling with learning a new task. Just remember that even the days that aren’t stellar usually have some kind of a silver lining to them.
You can read about how I came to this revelation below.
Monday, April 1, 2019
- The pillow on my bed has had an exceptionally long service record. It was finally put to rest once and for all today when I reccieved a new one. As a bonus mom washed my sheets and remade my bed today as part of the occasion! Both things made me smile, since remaking my own bed can take me several hours. I now no longer have to sleep on a pillow that feels like toilet paper either. Yay!
- I found a reasonable facsimile of Disney’s primary typace distilled into a computer font today, which made me nostalgic and smiley. It is open source so you can download a copy here. WARNING: Neither I, nor the font’s creator is responsible for the legal SNAFU that will ensue if you use this to attempt to recreate the Disney logo, or any associated Disney trademarks with it!!!! Please also note that typefaces are not copyrightable in the United States, so this font is technically legal to use here for your own projects. If you are not from the United States I highly recommend checking your local laws to make sure the same rules apply to you.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
- I know I said I wasn’t going to talk about food much anymore, but I’m going to have to make an exception for this one. I was invited to a volunteer appreciation dinner today. The food was excellent and was certainly worthy of a smile unto itself. But to make matters even better, I got a chance to show off Sunday’s video to a new group of people, firmly cementing my reputation as a video editing ninja.
- I also arrived to the dinner an hour early. Rather than looking at it as wasted time, I’m smiling about it because it means that I am turning over a new leaf in terms of my time management skills.
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
- I went out to shoot some footage today and get some practice with my camera. It didn’t go as well as I had planned, but I decided to buy myself a miniature New York style pizza slice for dinner. It at least had the effect of cheering me up slightly. I don’t know what it is about pizza grease, but it can get a smile out of me any day.
- The Sidewalk construction on my street is finally done! Woohoo!
Thursday, April 4, 2019
- I was supposed to go to work today, but I was feeling physically exhausted for reasons I couldn’t quite explain. Sleeping for 12 hours certainly helped though, and by the time I woke up much later in the day I was feeling a bit better. Looking back on it, I have been in situations where I could not afford to miss events that were happening in the real world. Historically, this has led me toward making some questionable health decisions. I can smile about how I handled it this time though, because unlike what usually happens, I actually listened to my body for once and slept when I needed it.
- Learning new tricks on Kdenlive is continuing apace, and making me smile. I also briefly branched into watching tutorials on how to use the open source CGI rendering engine called Blender, but I’m not getting serious about that one yet. Baby steps, baby steps.
Friday, April 5, 2019
- I went out filming today with slightly less ambitious goals than last time. I discovered that, as I had suspected, I was angling my camera too high. Fixing that produced some very nice footage. Progress makes me smile!
- We saw “Mortal Engines” tonight. The animation was award-worthy. The steampunk vibe was appreciated too.
Saturday, April 6, 2019
- I went to a Jazz Concert at L.A.’s Union Station today. I couldn’t stay for the whole thing, but the parts I saw tickled my inner jazz connoisseur into smiling.
- As a bonus, I was recognized from a crowd twice by the concert organizers because I have been to so many of their previous events. Shout out to Metro Art Presents!
Sunday, April 7, 2019
- Sunday was quiet. After the noise and activity that characterized Saturday, resting was a pleasant change that made me smile.
