My Inktober List
Sep. 30th, 2019 02:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellerSince aliax_alexandre asked me - this is the list I'll be using this year for my Inktober. Yes, I made it myself. I used runes to generate the vague ideas for the prompts, so it's going to be a challenge for me anyway. XD
I'll admit the prompts are... sort of vague. And weird. (And very Eller-y, if that counts as an adjective.) But that's okay - I hope they'll inspire me to scribble freely. If anyone else would also to use this list, feel free to do so. Of course I hope you all will enjoy Inktober no matter which list you decide to use, and I'm looking forward to all the Inktober posts! :D
(...enjoy the tiny sample of my horrible handwriting...)
aliax_alexandre asked me - this is the list I'll be using this year for my Inktober. Yes, I made it myself. I used runes to generate the vague ideas for the prompts, so it's going to be a challenge for me anyway. XDI'll admit the prompts are... sort of vague. And weird. (And very Eller-y, if that counts as an adjective.) But that's okay - I hope they'll inspire me to scribble freely. If anyone else would also to use this list, feel free to do so. Of course I hope you all will enjoy Inktober no matter which list you decide to use, and I'm looking forward to all the Inktober posts! :D
(...enjoy the tiny sample of my horrible handwriting...)
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Date: 2019-09-30 02:17 pm (UTC)(That "Inktober" bit is your handwriting!? ... Oh, er, okay... *cough*AndIthoughtminewasbad*cough* :D )
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Date: 2019-09-30 02:23 pm (UTC)You're going to use these? Yay, cool! I'm looking forward to see what you make of the prompts! :D
(I often wish fic would write itself, but art is a million times worse ;_; )
I think fic is more difficult. Art just takes longer from a technical point of view, but usually I have a fairly good idea what the end result is supposed to look like. (Of course, it never quite does...)
(That "Inktober" bit is your handwriting!? ... Oh, er, okay... *cough*AndIthoughtminewasbad*cough* :D )
Er, yes. Which makes my pen collection quite ironic indeed.
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Date: 2019-09-30 02:38 pm (UTC)Art just takes longer from a technical point of view, but usually I have a fairly good idea what the end result is supposed to look like.
... You know, you made me realise that this is one part of my problem: I don't specifically visualise what I want. I go for it the same way I go for fic: have a general idea of what the scene is about, some specifics, and then off I go, and the words just come by themselves. Weirdly enough, that doesn't seem to work for art; gee, I wonder why :P So, note to self: better visualisation before starting!
Er, yes. Which makes my pen collection quite ironic indeed.
Why? There's no rule that only people with perfect handwriting can use and/or collect pens, is there? What's next? Only people with an old-fashioned typewriter are allowed to write fic? (What, no, I'm not looking for an excuse to get one of those for me, even though I wouldn't use it :P ) In fact, I like to imagine that your pens are happy to be used by someone who is not obsessed about tracing the perfect stroke, and doesn't curse them for not doing so ;)
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Date: 2019-09-30 02:48 pm (UTC)Of course - just like I'm going to try to draw something every day. (Hint: Every year so far, I failed...) But I'm glad to hear you already have an idea!
So, note to self: better visualisation before starting!
Maybe try thumbnail sketches before you start with the "real" drawings... You know, sketches that are so small they have no room for detail, just the placement of objects, and the overall distribution of light and dark in the picture. I found that helps me to get nicer-looking compositions.
Why? There's no rule that only people with perfect handwriting can use and/or collect pens, is there?
Usually, it's kind of expected that people who spend ridiculous amounts of money on pens can write if not perfectly then at least legibly... XD Of course, I totally fail. (I think there are more samples of my, um, handwriting in some of my posts about fountain pens... If you're looking for something to laugh about.) Also, left-handed people are not supposed to use fountain pens. ;)
(What, no, I'm not looking for an excuse to get one of those for me, even though I wouldn't use it :P )
I like typewriters. And yes, I own one - though I didn't buy it, I simply took it when my parents got a computer.
In fact, I like to imagine that your pens are happy to be used by someone who is not obsessed about tracing the perfect stroke, and doesn't curse them for not doing so ;)
I don't have them for writing pretty, I have them for writing fast. XD
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Date: 2019-09-30 03:16 pm (UTC)Oh, yes! *brain immediately rebels* No, you shut up, brain. We're at least gonna TRY this, and quite frankly, we're no unicorn: if it works for others, there's no reason it shouldn't work for us.
(In case you wonder why I insist so much on drawing when I don't even know the basics: because I did it A LOT as a kid/teenager. I got quite good at drawing characters, even. And then in my early 20s, I stopped completely, for various reasons. So now, my hands and brain itch to try and try again, but I'm invariably disappointed by what I produce, because I don't have the same level of practice I had back then. Fruuuuustrating!!)
Usually, it's kind of expected that people who spend ridiculous amounts of money on pens can write if not perfectly then at least legibly.
Really? I find it weird, honestly. Loads of people spend lots of money on stuff they are not that good at. Spending money on pretty stuff, or just stuff one enjoys, is enough reason, at least as far as I'm concerned. I mean, if you were tight on money and you bought the pens under the excuse that you want to become a competitive calligraphist, then sure, but as long as it's for yourself... *shrugs*
Also, left-handed people are not supposed to use fountain pens. ;)
Oooof! Okay, yes, that one I remember. We HAD to use fountain pens in junior and high school, and the first year was rough! Even after that, it was always a crapshoot whether the new pen I bought when the previous one died would "fit" or not, and how long it would take for me to "break it in". So annoying, really!
I like modern typewriters that don't make it feel like you're doing strength-training for your fingers D:
I don't have them for writing pretty, I have them for writing fast. XD
See!? You're making them feel like race cars! Or like Ferraris or something! They're Not Like All The Other Fountain Pens :P (though what do you need to write fast for? Isn't that what computers and their handy keyboards are for :D ? )
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Date: 2019-09-30 03:26 pm (UTC)Which basics? Pen touches paper, with the side that leaves a mark. It's quite simple. :3
So now, my hands and brain itch to try and try again, but I'm invariably disappointed by what I produce, because I don't have the same level of practice I had back then. Fruuuuustrating!!
Very easy to solve, too: just doodle some stuff and get that practice back. (Incidentally, that's what Inktober is for, anyway...)
Spending money on pretty stuff, or just stuff one enjoys, is enough reason, at least as far as I'm concerned.
<3
become a competitive calligraphist
OMFG. That's... A career path I'm not sorry I missed. :D
Oooof! Okay, yes, that one I remember. We HAD to use fountain pens in junior and high school, and the first year was rough! Even after that, it was always a crapshoot whether the new pen I bought when the previous one died would "fit" or not, and how long it would take for me to "break it in". So annoying, really!
YES! We all had to use the same pen in class, and obviously that one had a nib for right-handed people... But at least I became very good at modifying fountain pens.
though what do you need to write fast for?
Coding! I need to write fast because I think fast, and if I'd write stuff down slowly, I'd forget half of it before I've finished writing the other half down.
Isn't that what computers and their handy keyboards are for :D ?
Uh, my handwriting is a lot faster than my typing! It's not as if I type slowly - more like the opposite; I basically grew up glued to a computer from age ten on - but nothing's faster than a good nib on paper. (Maybe that also explains why my handwriting fails to look nice.)
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Date: 2019-09-30 03:49 pm (UTC)Actually, you know what's funny? When I "just doodle" something, I usually end up pretty satisfied with the result. But when I set out to ~draw something~... Blargh, not good, why am I even trying, and so on.
(Yes, I'm a specialist in self-sabotage, and yes, I often need to trick my brain into doing things without it noticing. Even fic sometimes, I get stuck, so I go, "Oh, look at that other idea, let's do that-- Oh, we're going back to the fic? Okay, sure, why not?" So basically I'm now developing an arsenal to use to do the same with drawing :D )
We all had to use the same pen in class
OMG D: ! At least we were allowed to buy ours.
But at least I became very good at modifying fountain pens.
... It never occurred to me that this was even a thing that was possible. Like, you buy the thing, you use the thing, you throw away the thing. Modifying the thing? Bwuh?? But! Only for some things! For others, it wouldn't occur to me NOT to want to modify them! Why and how some things fall into the first or the second category... is a very good question :P !
How the hell do you modify a fountain pen anyway? (*should probably ask Google/Youtube instead :P *)
Uh, my handwriting is a lot faster than my typing!
O.O ... I write quite fast (and consequently, badly :P ) but I type infinitely faster. Though it occurs to me that we're talking coding here, not fic. I'm guessing you have to use symbols and stuff? Or just need the freedom to use the space of the page as you wish? Things like that? When I vaguely looked again into Maths and Physics, I definitely had to do everything by hand, for example. So, uh, makes sense, in fact.
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Date: 2019-09-30 03:57 pm (UTC)Self-sabotage is a good name for that. ;) But yeah, I know the feeling. Perfectionism is a bad, bad thing!
How the hell do you modify a fountain pen anyway? (*should probably ask Google/Youtube instead :P *)
The easy ones? Obviously, you can bend the nib, and you can also polish it so it's, for example, useable by a left-handed person... You can also do stuff to the ink feed... ^^
Though it occurs to me that we're talking coding here, not fic. I'm guessing you have to use symbols and stuff? Or just need the freedom to use the space of the page as you wish? Things like that?
Uh, kind of... The space-of-the-page thing is definitely important, but occasionally I really have to write stream-of-consciousness flow text. I do some Really Archaic Coding (including some
cuneiformFORTRAN) and that can be written down like, well, words and sentences. And I'm infinitely faster when I write by hand.no subject
Date: 2019-09-30 04:23 pm (UTC)How dare you!? Perfectionism is the Most Bestest Thing Ever, ensuring that you will only ever produce the Perfectest Piece of work... someday.
I do some Really Archaic Coding (including some
cuneiformFORTRAN)... Wow O.o ! If I remember correctly, it was already a dinosaur language back when I was learning BASIC and Pascal in the 80s.
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Date: 2019-09-30 04:33 pm (UTC)That is to say... never. Because you'll throw away all your attempts.
... Wow O.o ! If I remember correctly, it was already a dinosaur language back when I was learning BASIC and Pascal in the 80s.
Yes, but it's still one of the best - when it comes to the direct translation of mathematical formulas (which is, incidentally, just what the language is named for), there's simply nothing more efficient around. All the recent languages were just developed
because modern-day nerd kids simply don't have the concentration span to wrangle literally hundred-thousand lines of codeto make programming faster and more user-friendly, but on the machine side, if it has to be direct and efficient, AND well-documented... Yeah.no subject
Date: 2019-09-30 04:56 pm (UTC)Someday, never, potayto, potahto.
because modern-day nerd kids simply don't have the concentration span to wrangle literally hundred-thousand lines of code
... Sometimes, I really feel like I missed my vocation :/ It's just that in my Uni, to study programming, you also had to study electronics, and I sucked big time at that. But I loved making algorithms, and fiddling around with the coding part, and so on. And the more basic, the better! I remember when we did some assembly language: the others were horrified, I was having the time of my life :D
*sigh* I wanna win the lottery, and go back to school, and study computer sciences, and have fun with programming languages, and database management, and... *sniff ;_; *
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Date: 2019-09-30 05:37 pm (UTC)You'd love my job, then. :D I don't quite go down to assembler (though yes I learned that at some point; I read everything Don Knuth ever wrote, so...) but making pretty and cute algorithms is what I do. ^^
*sigh* I wanna win the lottery, and go back to school, and study computer sciences, and have fun with programming languages, and database management, and... *sniff ;_; *
Ewwww, databases. Heresy! :P But seriously, I didn't officially study that stuff either. I'm purely a hobbyist. (HA!) Except by some joke of fate I turned out to be good at maths. Which is, basically, the only job requirement. (That, and being able to hand-write whole books of Fortran code that actually compiles.)
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Date: 2019-09-30 06:10 pm (UTC)I don't know: didn't you mention using statistics in your latest presentation? Those are EVIL! ... Or at least, they were 20 years ago :P
making pretty and cute algorithms
Eeeee :D ! "Who's a good algorithm who will compile without a problem? Is it you? Yes, it's you!"
Ewwww, databases. Heresy! :P
See!? I like the stuff nobody else likes :D
I'm purely a hobbyist. (HA!)
LOL! So, sempai, should I start straight with Fortran For Dummies, then :P ?
Except by some joke of fate I turned out to be good at maths.
That might be my weakness. Though I suspect it wasn't so much that I was bad at them in Uni, but that they were presented in too boring a way. Those classes literally put me to sleep...
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Date: 2019-09-30 06:23 pm (UTC)Yeah, statistics are the boring part. XD They're a necessary... not exactly evil, I guess, but something that needs to be done. Like taking a shower before going to work, although technically it doesn't have anything to do with algorithms.
Eeeee :D ! "Who's a good algorithm who will compile without a problem? Is it you? Yes, it's you!"
Ahwwwwww! <3
LOL! So, sempai, should I start straight with Fortran For Dummies, then :P ?
If you want to do it like me, just go to the German Harry Potter Fanclub, take the HTML course for elementary school kids (it sounds funny, but it was actually a VERY GOOD course, and I'm still in touch with some people from there, and they all ended up more or less in informatics, so...) and discover that computers are more than typewriters with some storage. Then, annoy your parents (who still think computers are typewriters with storage) by getting Knuth's "Art of Programming" books, lock yourself in your room for a few years and proceed reading those books - without computer access, of course, since your parents seem to think playing with the typewriter is unhealthy for your mental state. Finish highschool with the maximum of missed days you can have and still pass the formal requirements. Study something easy, pretty and glittery. Then, without any qualification beyond a certificate of the Harry Potter Fanclub course (it has balloons! Balloons!!! Also, it's proudly displayed in my office...), go get yourself a job as algorithm designer in a scientific department... Uh. Better not?!?
That might be my weakness. Though I suspect it wasn't so much that I was bad at them in Uni, but that they were presented in too boring a way. Those classes literally put me to sleep...
Those were the classes I just skipped... The good thing is that as long as you show up for the exams, everything is fine.
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