One of the biggest challenges in moving was relocating my workspace. I spend a lot of time in my home office, since I work from home for the "corporate America job I'll never mention on my website," use this as my recording studio, produce all mycomics from here, and do all of my Nerd & Tie stuff. It's been a while since I shared the evolution of what I refer to as my "cyberpunk" desk, so I thought I'd update you with the current iteration.
The first three photos are from 2010, 2012, and 2014 respectively, but it was a lot more complex before we left Lafayette. The "day job" system went from one to three screens recently though, so I had to scramble a bit for space. There are three main computers here, the company owned Windows 7 system, my main system (a five year old MacBook Pro), and my Linux machine. There's also a Windows 95 laptop running the clock, a Kindle Fire for streaming media while I work, and the Commodore monitor can be switched between multiple devices (including a 3DO and TV tuner). That's not to mention my iPad, the other Kindle Fire (which I use for reading), or the recording equipment.
And the mini fridge is full of Diet Coke.
I used to joke about having a "cyberpunk" desk when I only had three screens going, but that just seems so quaint nowadays. I used to say I'd never have enough screens -- but guess what? I kind of think I do now. - Traegorn
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So I've posted about this on social media a bunch, but I'm realizing that I've never said anything about it on my blog. A blog which supposedly is here to chronicle my major life events... even if it's kind of fallen silent these last few years.
But hey, I'm trying to fix that right now.
Crysta is finishing up her time at Purdue, and with our lease ending soon at our current apartment we had to decide where we wanted to go. I mean, it's really the only reason we've been in Lafayette this whole time, and I can literally work from anywhere. We talked about a few different options, and in the end we decided that we needed to regroup and just kind of go home.
And for us, even though none of our family is there, our home is Eau Claire, WI.
So we signed a lease on a new place this spring, and this last weekend we drove to Eau Claire, picked up the keys for (and unloaded a bunch of our stuff into) our new apartment. It's in our old neighborhood, and it just sort of makes sense for us right now.
We're moving gradually throughout the month, making multiple trips, and it's (of course) stressful as ever. We'll be in Eau Claire full time on July 1st. I'm doing my best to keep UnCONventional, The Chronicles of Crosarth, and Nerd & Tie updated on their regular schedules, but please forgive me if things slip once or twice. The only time I ever missed an UnCONventional update was when I moved back in 2010, and the rest of that stuff didn't exist at the time.
I'm excited though, and this is going to be good.
I should also point out that I'm becoming fully active in No Brand Con staff again, and am now their co-head of Advertising and PR. Because of that, I will no longer be covering anything No Brand Con related on Nerd & Tie. Any future stories on that organization will be handled by Nick or Gen, though I don't foresee many. Frankly, we last ran one on them several years ago.
So it's spring, which means two things - I've got a new UnCONventional book out and it's convention season.
To start out, UnCONventional Chapter Seven is now available for purchase. I'll have it at any cons I'm doing from here on out, and it costs just $25. If you can't find me at a convention, you can buy the book either directly or on Amazon.
Now, I'm only doing a handful of conventions this year, but I literally have three coming up in the month of April. This is my schedule right now:
INDYpendent Show - April 2, 2017
Wyndham Indianapolis West - Indianapolis, IN
Karoshi Con - April 8, 2017
Northern Illinois University - Dekalb, IL
No Brand Con - April 21-23, 2017
Chula Vista Resort - Wisconsin Dells, WI
So yeah, if you feel like coming out to any of these events, I'd be super happy to see you. It's going to be a fun time. - Traegorn
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I haven't posted here for a while for a lot of reasons, but I figured I should do some sort of update. With that in mind, I figured I'd do something I haven't done for almost two years, and that's dig up some Nerd & Tie title cards. Here are some of the best ones:
I swear, as I've gotten older, time seems to slip by me faster and faster. Sometimes you look back and milestones just sort of hit you out of nowhere. My lovely wife Crysta and I have been together for a while though, and we've built a happy life four ourselves - one of random adventures, shared sorrows, and just all around awesomeness.
And Ten years ago today I kissed her for the first time.
That's right, ten years ago today, I started dating the woman I'd marry. We'd met the week before at the annual OA F'mas Party (long story), but we'd actually kept almost meeting for months before hand. Hell, I'm literally in the background of her Facebook pictures from a backyard "To Slay Zombie Newton" concert in the previous October.
The backyard of a house the two of us would later live in together.
I can't imagine my life without Crysta, and it all started this day, ten years ago, in a dorm television lounge at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. It's been an amazing ten years, and I look forward to what's coming next.
It's hard to see how it could get better than this though. - Traegorn
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I wanted to clear my head from the post I made earlier this week (which broke over a month of silence on this blog). I didn't have a lot to say though (since the contents of said previous entry are still heavy on my mind), so instead I decided to post something I drew today.
This is just a random drawing of N.K. from "The Corridor" project I detailed in the blog last February. Obviously there have been tweaks to the character model, but nothing significant.
I don't have a lot more to say other than "I drew a thing" though, so I'm going to leave things at that.
I recorded a vlog about my post election thoughts this year.
I haven't closed the comments on my site for this, but it's more because I can't do it per-post on the blog software I wrote that manages this site. If you feel the need to defend Donald Trump in the comments, please know I will be deleting them.
I know this blog shows up on my comics, and that my readers don't all agree with my politics. Again, I ask you to just stay silent on the matter if this is the case.
Because right now I am very, very angry.
In any case, if you're feeling stressed out... umm... here's a stock picture of some kittens sleeping I found? I mean, that's all I've got for you right now.
So exactly one week from now, the Nerd & Tie Expo will open its metaphorical doors to the public. We've been working hard towards this for the last year, and the fact that it's almost here... it's just kind of amazing.
Well, that and stressful as hell.
There's so many unknowns when you're starting a new con, and so much is on the line. Now, I'm 100% sure that the attendees of the Nerd & Tie Expo will have a good time, and that it'll be a pretty great con for everyone there... but other than that? Who knows. There's so much that can go wrong, and so much that can go right -- and you can't know how things will go until you get there.
And unknown variables always stress me out. Welcome to living with Anxiety.
I am excited though. We've got some great guests, some great events, and the team we've assembled over the last year are all really great people. I'm proud to work with them and call them my friends.
Putting on a convention is hard and a lot of work, but these events are important. Anyone who knows me well understands that I firmly believe that conventions are a vital part of creating real communities and are the foundation of maintaining a true geek subculture.
Twenty years ago a lot of us met in person at fanclubs, which made building real world communities a simple extension of fandom. And while college clubs still exist, these days a lot of that activity has shifted online instead. Online communities are great, don't get me wrong, but they lack personal interaction. The modern version of the convention lets us build that though -- and maintains those real world bonds that the geek subculture needs to survive.
Sorry... started getting a little preachy there for a minute.
So anywho, yeah -- Nerd & Tie Expo. In one week. Holy crap, this is happening. - Traegorn
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