The 30 [Week] challenge. Week 2: My Blog name.

So it's the second week of this challenge. I'm enjoying taking my time - over at danfairweather.blogspot.com I'm posting once a day so the change of pace here is refreshing... Even though I'm posting twice today.

The reason behind my blog title is pretty simple, so this post isn't going to be huge.

"Dreaming dreams, chasing chickens". It's simple, so I feel the need to draw it out somewhat.

Dreaming is important. Dreams give us drive and they push us to achieve more than we thought we could, even if only slightly more. Other peoples' dreams inspire us and challenge us. To dream dreams is to think bigger than you currently are and to look towards doing something greater in the future. I love dreaming. Whether it's looking forward to an event three weeks from now; imagining what it'll be like and what you want to do - to thinking years in advance and picturing where you'll be, who you'll know, what you will have done. And the great thing is that it's limitless. In two ways - one, the only thing capping your dreams is your own imagination and two, it doesn't just have to be about what you're wanting to do; it could be about where you want to go, what you want to have, etc.

Two of my dreams - I want to have an action figure of a character I've created. Not the cheap, Dollar store/Poundland figures that look like they've been carved out of a bar of soap by a guy with three fingers. In the dark. On a boat. In a storm. Not that type; but the type that I avoid looking at for long periods of time because I don't want people to think I'm a geek. Even though I am. The sort that look like they've been pulled straight out of whatever game or TV series they're from, you know? I really dig that sort of action figure and if ever I buy one, I'm going to take it out of the box right away. I don't care. And yes, I said dig.

My second dream is to own a Jeep Wrangler. A short-wheel-base yellow one with a fabric roof; floodlights; a winch; a big ol' guard on the front; big, fat wheels on an improved suspension, a snorkel and a license plate reading "THE BRIT". Nothing specific, like...

But that's the beauty of dreams. They can take you to where you want to be so that you can imagine looking back and seeing how you got there. I can't wait.

And chasing chickens? Well, when I was creating my blog my mum had just got chickens. They didn't care when she was around, so she could just grab them and hold then with no trouble. Everyone else had to chase them round the pen. Like headless chickens.

Dreaming dreams, chasing chickens.

As for my URL - obsessivedrawingdisorder.blogspot.com - the idea behind that is on the right side of my other blog posts. When I was two years old, the only way my mum could get me to come to the table to eat was to have a pen and paper next to my plate. I haven't really stopped.

I've enjoyed this. I wrote more than I thought and it didn't feel like it took a long time. I like it when that happens. For now, though, I'm off to tidy the house.

Peace.

The 30 [Week] challenge. Week 1: Introduction and 15 facts.

It's meant to be the 30-day challenge, but I thought I'd modify it somewhat and enjoy a leisurely challenge with my wifey. Over the next 30 weeks, we will be updating our blogs with different topics and telling you things about different aspects of our lives. This blog contains my aspects and thoughts, my wifey's contains hers.

So I present to you Week 1: Introducing myself and 15 interesting facts.

I am Dan. I'm 25 at present and I am living in America. I graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in June 2011 with a Bachelor's in Games Design and was fortunate enough to be granted a scholarship for my Masters, which I will be starting in September 2012. My wifey and I are as involved with church here as we can be at the moment, after doing the same back home in England last year and as we're looking forward to doing again when we move back later this year. I have drawn for as long as I remember - my mother telling me that the only way she could get me to come to the table to eat was to put a pen and paper beside my plate. It's what I have always enjoyed doing and it's what I dream of doing for a living. I'm not sure how much of what I could tell you about myself here would qualify as facts about myself, so without further ado; here are my top 15:

1. I am a Christian. Not the religious, hymn-singing, hypocritical, unbeliever-hating, more-lofty-than-thou Christian. At least I hope I don't come across that way. I'm a live-it-out, singing at the top of my lungs, broken, fallen, struggling, people-loving man who is doing his best to honour his Lord and Saviour. I struggle as much as the next Christian and I fail to live up to this calling just as frequently. It's not that I'm a hypocrite and tell people that they should live like me when I'm not living right; it's that I have a set of morals and principals that are unaffected by politics, that are above change, that are earless to governments and I strive to change the way I live in order to bring my life in line with them, fully knowing that they are easily overlooked and sometimes hard to live by.

2. My best friend is my wifey, Melissa. We've been married for 20 months, one week and two days at present. Third best decision I've made in my life. The first being to follow Christ, the second being to ask Melissa to marry me. She's incredible. I would need to learn a whole vocabulary's worth of words to even get close to describing how much she means to me. She's my Honeybee, my Queen, my Fluffyhead Pumpkinsnuggle. I love her.

3. I was born in Southport, England. A small town that's been around for about 220 years.

4. I went to a fairly big primary school (elementary school) called Churchtown Primary School and for most of my junior years, I was in the Yellow House. It was pretty much a point system based on what tables we sat on, and I just happened to find myself in the Yellow group for three or four years.

5. I am named after two friends of my parents. Daniel and Guy. I don't know much about either - even less about Guy. Daniel is the son of the family doctor and was a soldier.

6. I have four siblings. One older sister and three younger brothers.

7. The states I have been to at present are New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Texas and Pennsylvania. Although some of those I counted because I had a layover there...

8. I had an eyebrow piercing for three months before it grew out. I got it caught on my T-shirt once while I was getting dressed in a hurry and can't quite describe the shock of that feeling.

9. When I was little I started to choke on a boiled sweet. This was remedied by my dad picking me up by my feet and shaking me up and down.

10. My best male friend is a man named Tim. We've grown up together and we've never had a falling out. Some people say you're not good friends if you've never fallen out, but I can say after 21 years of growing up along side each other that that's poop. He was my best man at my wedding and I love him a whole lot.

11. I am fairly good at picking things up by watching them being done and I remember things better when I write them down. A bit of a Jack-of-all-trades.

12. I have blue eyes. They've been described as sea-blue, shining blue, sky-blue and bright blue, among other things.

13. I love fishing; especially over here in the States. Fishing in England is now very expensive indeed and I got fed up with the amount I had to spend to even fish on a water, let alone buy everything I needed for a day on the side of a pond or lake or whatever. Here, I buy my license, buy my rod/reel combo and a few lures and then I'm good to fish any public water I can get to! I love it.

14. I have never been hunting and it's something that I want to do so much. My to do list with hunting is as follows (still counted as this fourteenth point):

- Bow hunt deer.

- Black powder hunt deer.

- Modern gun hunt deer.

- Bow fish (probably Alligator Gar).

- Bow hunt frogs.

- Blowgun/blowpipe hunt squirrel.

- Rifle hunt squirrel.

- Noodle.

- Hand-catch frogs.

I think that's about it. It's not that I'm cruel and like killing things for sport. Everything I hunt I will prepare and eat. It confuses me how people hunt for sport and it confuses me how people like eating meat but don't want to think of it as having being killed at some point.

15. I'm right-handed, but I chop wood left-handed.

That was easier than I thought. And very enjoyable.

I hope there's something interesting there for you to read. It was good fun thinking of them and writing them down. Next week won't be as big a post, but still fun.

Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it.

Peace.

Something to Oversea.

My brother's getting ready to go on a cruise at the moment. I'm pretty excited for him because the cruise sets off from Miami, so to get here it's his first long-haul flight. His first flight ever was Christmas Eve' just gone. It's also going to be his first time in America, which I'm excited about. Until tomorrow, I'm going to have been the only one of our family to have been Stateside. I'm so stoked that he's coming over and that he's going to be able to experience something of the culture here.

Here's his band's Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/Brontidetheband

Also, search for them on iTunes and get their album, 'Sans Souci'. It's incredible.

Also also, their new single 'Coloured Tongues' comes out pretty soon.

We have a new puppy! It's a 'PikaPoo', but it's only really mostly Poodle. Pooping everywhere and peeing in all the corners. It's a joy.

I was walking through Wal*mart the other day. I make no apologies.

I came across an Angry Birds Valentine's Day card set.

Angry. Birds. Valentine's. Day. Card. Set.

Now, I'm all for capitalising on a good idea, but really? I've seen a whole lot of Angry Bird products. Dog toys, stuffed toys, phone covers, T-shirts, keyrings, beanies, paperclips, tiny toy sets that are just non-phone versions of the game... the list goes on. For an essential re-skinning of a pre-existing game/idea, they've done pretty well for themselves.

As a game design course graduate, it's both good and bad to see. It's really good because it shows a couple of things (albeit obvious) - a simple idea done well goes a long way. All we're doing is firing an object into a series of other objects. Add a squawk here and there, a few feathers and some oinks and you have the app. equivalent of Charlie biting his brother's finger.

The other thing is that in-game sales make much more money than the game itself. For the same amount as the app., you can buy a bird that will complete a level for you. I stopped looking through the extra items after that. Eh.

On the other hand, I have a friend who has been working for six years with a small team he got together after graduating and only now have they got to the point where companies are hiring them and giving them contracts and things.

I guess it's luck and timing. I'm a Tiny Wings fan, myself.

I'm needing blog ideas. It's probably safe to say, seeing as though my last post was in August last year. I guess I'll work on it. I've been updating my other blog regularly - danfairweather.blogspot.com - so check that out for smaller, daily updates that don't say a whole lot. For more though out things, I think I need to reak out my Blog Ideas notebook again. It's a small Moleskine that I carry round and jot down ideas. It helps me remember points I want to make but it also makes me feel somewhat pretentious.

I've also tried a newer layout with my paragraphs. If it's not that clear, I've just started to bold and enlarge the first three words of a new topic.

I'm off to bed.

Peace.

Open-MindDead.

I love people telling me I'm closed-minded. Thankfully it hasn't happened too recently.

Because here's the thing - I believe that there is something more than just this life. I believe that there is a life beyond what we are experiencing now. That this is the first step in an eternal existence for us. That there is a spiritual life that runs concurrently yet at the same time consecutively. As well as what is going on now, there is a behind the scenes spiritual walk that is in the everlasting, which carries on after we leave this earthly life. I believe that the God who has created all of this is so vast I cannot comprehend it. That as soon as I put a face to the One who created me, I limit Him to a being who is no more defined as the person next to me. That He is truly without limits and that that means He has no boundaries. Nothing to stop or contain or dictate what He can and cannot do. I accept that His judgement is out of my control. I accept that His decisions are beyond my capabilities to even understand, let alone make. I know that the Bible throws up more questions than it throws up answers, yet I keep pawing through it to hopefully delve deeper into what it holds. I know that I'll never fully understand what it contains, yet that doesn't stop me from searching. I know that only God has a full understanding of everything. I know that the most learned scholar in any field has only a glimpse of insight into what they study and research compared to the full understanding that God holds over everything. I know that the Bible is a living text. That reading it will change me. That every time I read it, there is the possibility - no - the expectation that something new will come to light. That something new will be learned. That my life and the way I live can, will and should change on a daily basis all because of the words that I read and re-read. I realise that there is an unchanging plan for my life, yet to get there I need to change constantly - that God knows where I will end up, what I will end up doing and where I will be and my life revolves around getting in line with that. That the unchanging requires change to fulfill. I see the stars and I know that they are there for us to simply enjoy. I see the power and the majesty of these bodies in space yet I know that there is power and majesty still to be found beyond them. That they are not all that. That as magnificent as they are - each and every one; still One more magnificent than they is waiting to be seen in full. I know that the closest we will get here on earth to the Living God is but a glimpse compared to what we will experience upon death. I know that when I wake in Heaven I will fully understand that death has no sting - that I will look back at my death and realise it was like walking through a door to my home. This I realise and know yet strive to understand while I am still here on earth and while I have still not seen it with my own eyes. I know that this God of holiness will one day welcome a wretch like me into His house and that I will dwell in His presence for the rest of time. I accept that I can't put a face to God, that I can't put a shape to God. That in my wildest imaginations, God far exceeds what I can conjure up. That the only limit to His power is the faith I have. I know that there is more to life than what we can see, taste, touch, measure, watch or hear. I know that God promised us things before the earth was even made - no matter how we think it was made. That spiritually, we walk alongside those who paved the way for us to do so. That we are walking side-by-side with Elijah, with Moses, with Stephen, with Paul. With. Jesus. That through Jesus we live forever. That through that same Jesus the world was formed. That the One who made us would take on flesh and bone in order to reach down and effect our lives. That the limitless, the shapeless, the eternal would walk the earth for a short time in order to create a bridge between the physical and the spiritual. That the same power that destroyed nations fights for our very souls. Every day. That the incomparable, the flawless, the perfect, the ever-present, ever-loving, ever-powerful, everlasting would lay down His life for every one of us so that we can spend time with Him that, right now, we can't even fathom. That He did this so that we can live a life outside and above our own and that He did this so that we can live forever.

And, what, you believe that all there is is the here and now? That we are limited to what we can see, hear, touch, measure and observe?

And I'm closed-minded?

Please.

Pizza Doe.

Hey, friend.

My wife and I made it to America ok. It was a nice little 95 hour trip.

Things I'll chat about now: The trip, visas, Google, Brontide, the unrelenting heat, a first.

The Trip.

Getting here was an experience. We were staying at my folks' place for a week before flying out which was nice. After packing up our house for a few weeks and getting everything sorted out there, it was nice to be able to relax a bit.

We set off on the journey back to America on Saturday morning. The 16th. We got to the train station for our 1055 train to London. I was already a little stressed by the car ride to the station - I obviously didn't know there was another 94 hours to go. When we were actually traveling, I was fine - it was in the down time between trains and the underground that I started to freak out about the traveling we had left.

We stayed the first night in a little hotel in London before going to the airport to meet my brother for a bit and then to check in for the flight. After a lovely aside that I'll talk about in a bit, we were finally on our way.

When we got to Iceland - our half way point - we were told that our flight on to New York was overbooked. So instead of going on to NY and spending the night there, they offered us a free dinner that night, a free hotel for that night, a free breakfast for the morning, a free trip to the Blue Lagoon and a free lunch at the Blue Lagoon. And a free ticket to travel anywhere with Iceland Express. Terrible, right? There were some people who complained, but they're everywhere. My wifey and I loved it! Iceland is amazing. We had a great little break on our way over and a nice time to relax.

Heading NY way the day after, our flight had to do figure of eights in the air a few times before we landed because of the bad weather on the runway. A great experience for nervous air passengers...

New York was a really good experience and we got to go to Times Square for a couple of hours before heading over to Milwaukee and then on to Kansas City, where we met up with some good friends and stayed with them for a few days.

The trip was incredible and I wouldn't have done anything different - aside from maybe stressing less!

Visas.

Visas are ridiculous. As I was checking in in London, my boarding pass to Iceland was granted and printed but the pass from there to New York was denied. This was because I hadn't filled in a form online. This form was the I-94W and it put me in a catch 22 situation. The most catchiest, twenty-twoiest situation I've ever found myself in. First of all, this is a new way of doing things - introduced in April. Now, instead of it being a free three month visa that I fill in on the plane on the way over, I have to pay to fill it in. With it, I can't extend my stay in America (I wasn't planning on it, but I'm staying with my wife and her family, so I wanted that option) and without it, I wouldn't be allowed into America. Good stuff.

So I filled it in and went back down to check in again, but it didn't clear and at the time, we were going to have to travel to Iceland and hope that it cleared before we got there so that I could get the Iceland - America boarding pass printed. Which is why the overbooked flight and subsequent night in Iceland was such a blessing.

And now I'm here waiting for my I-130 - the visa that we thought would be done and dusted before we flew out.

But we're here. An that's all that matters at the moment.

Google.

I can't access my other email account. I'm not sure why. I created it in America and I use this laptop to access it, but Google in their wisdom have decided to deny me access to the account because it's a 'different location'... I'll be talking to them this afternoon.

Brontide.

As I mentioned in the last post, my little brother and his band have an album out. You can hear their single 'Matador' here: http://soundcloud.com/brontide and you can get more information on them as a whole here: http://www.myspace.com/brontidetheband

Their twitter link is here: http://twitter.com/#!/FUCKINGBRONTIDE

Twitter name aside, they're a great, family friendly sound, so be sure to check them out and buy their things.

Pizza doe.

It's been a while since I've seen roadkill bigger than a dog.

The unrelenting heat.

The heat here is insane. I'm sure I wrote about it last time I was over here. It's been over 100ºF here for nearly three weeks solid. That's about 35ºC. Constantly. Well, it dips to around 25ºC through the night. I like staying up late to pretend I'm home and that it's a normal temperature. It helps sometimes. The pool is great, though. Nice and cool.

The one thing that gets me down is that it's too hot for me to go outside. I was just stood outside the other day and I was sweating as I do when I run back home. It's weird. I'm pretty lethargic because my energy is at a low and because of that I'm not working out as I normally do. And so now I'm down because I haven't worked out and it's hot. But I guess it'll all be better in a few weeks. Then I'll be fishing and running and lifting again. Feeling better.

It's not the worst thing to be complaining about, though. Not a bad problem.

A First.

And finally. I got a First in my Games Design course! I worked my fingers off - sewed until there was no thread left. I drew until my pens ran out and I typed until the keys split in half. It was an intense year - especially the last couple of months when it was all coming together. It was exciting, too. My wifey was my best cheerleader. She supported me through this year more than I could have asked and I am truly grateful. I'm in the process of applying for my Masters Degree, so hopefully there'll be more drawing and writing and creating in the years to come. There will be whether I do the MA or not.

I didn't really get how big a first is until a load of people started enthusiastically congratulating me. I worked as hard as I could and I was really happy with it, but it's what I aimed for. Who wouldn't want to do their best?! I worked hard and prayed hard. As much as I have my wifey to thank, I have so much more thanks for God. He's been our rock through this year - He's been my rock for years, but with my wifey this year, He's been our solid foundation and I can't wait to pursue Him even more with her in the years to come.

Thanks again for reading. I really do appreciate it.

Peace.

My mane aim.

AHA! It's within two months. I'm in no way proud of forgetting my blog and not writing here or anything, but here I am, less than two months after my last post. (I was going to quote the last post and be all smug, but it's below this one and you can read it yourself. That and it's not working for me).

Things to talk about this time round... Ubuntu. Brontide. Drawing and work. Church and life. Wifey wife. And AOB.

Ubuntu.
I'm drinking it now and it's good. Try some. Fair trade cola that doesn't taste like fair trade poop water.

Brontide.
THIS IS COOL.
(First of all, this is a really old picture)... Carry on...
So my brother and a few friends started a little band way back in 2007. The Drummer, William Bowerman, can be found under the 'Notable People' section of the wikipedia page for Collingham, Nottinghamshire. Formerly of 'I Was A Cub Scout', he is their drummer. At the time of writing, he also drums for La Roux.
Guitartist Tim Hancock is the band's guitarist - also from Collingham, but found under the 'See Also' section of the page for Collingham, Nottinghamshire.
Bassist Nathan Fairweather Bases/Basses on the bass guitar. Having exhausted four bass teachers of all they knew back in Southport, he moved to Brighton where he went on to learn more.
So yea, they got together in 2007 and have been chipping away at making their big mark on the scene. The niche for instrumental bands is just that. Niche. It's hard, but these lads have stuck at it and it is paying off. Air time on Radio One, tours of venues and festivals (one in Europe coming up). These are ridiculously talented individuals who put their skills together to continually blow crowds away. They have incredible stage presence. They have passion that is second to none. They have put their all into this band for four years and they are all thoroughly, genuinely uplifting to be around. (And Nathan's freakin' hilarious. Always has been. He got the funny gene).

Anyway. Brief introduction aside, THEY HAVE AN ALBUM OUT NEXT MONTH! I have already set aside the money for several copies (I'm not assuming I'm getting a free one, but if that's the case I still want to support them, so I'm going to buy a few for my friends).

This is going to be nothing but music. Obviously. But I mean if you've seen them at a gig, you'll know what to expect. They're the only band I've ever seen play a full hour of music, non stop. And they do it flawlessly.

So mark your calendars. April. That's when the album's out.



Drawing and work.
Drawing is fun. It always has been and it always will be. The fact that I've been able to make it such a big part of my life is a huge blessing. I come to uni and draw. I go home and I doodle. It's fun and it opens up a world that is fantastic. You can be anything you want to be. It's like LARPing but a little less obviously geeky. Instead of donning and cape and hitting things with foam swords, shouting and wailing and getting genuinely angry at people who aren't playing fair, I simply curl up on a sofa or other comfortable place and draw something. One day, I could be an ant with a gun. The next day I could be the best cricket herder in the whole world (of Kry'kn VI). After that, I might take some time out and chill by the huge oceans of th.. oh wait - a massive dog with a tree for a head is running at me. Good job I'm made of fire today. Ha. I can hide this geekyness from most people. Most definately not my wife. But she loves it.

My dream and my prayer is that I can get a job doing this. Whether it's drawing character ideas for a company or selling indie comics. Whether it's coming up with ideas for games and making those games or selling my work at art fairs. As long as I can remember I've wanted to make a living doing what I love.

Speaking of things that I love...
I played bass for a whole service for the first time on Sunday. I was both excited and proper nervous, but I was playing for God and that filled me with peace. See He is the creator of everything and has all power, but I know that He sees our hearts. Although I hit more wrong notes than I can remember, it was just fine for His ears. I had a blast singing as loud as I could, too - right in front of the biggest amp on the stage...

Life is good. I'm having a great time in uni and at the moment it's taking precedence over most other things. I'm finding it hard to keep a fair balance of things, but I think that's just the way things go in life. If everything was doled out in equal portions it'd get boring. Money is tight and food is low, but we're in a first world country with a roof over our heads and a bed to sleep in and we're in love. It's great.

Melissa and I are off to Amsterdam and Germany for Easter. Amsterdam to be with a church there for a week to see how they do things and Germany for a week to meet her Granddad. We're looking forward to it.

Also my best friend, Tim, got back from South Africa on Monday. It's good to hear his voice again and hopefully I'll be able to get back down to Southport and meet up and catch up. Maybe play some footy.

All Other Beans.
Nothing much more to say. I've forgotten my password for one of my blogs and I've lost my video camera - which I use to record videos for another blog. But hey. There's this one and there's my design one (danfairweather.blogspot.com)

That and I need to trim my beard. It's getting pretty scruffy. I lost the length setting I normally use though, so I either have to have it longish or very short.

And also, my friend Thom is asking me to draw things for a webcomic. We have a few ideas and I'm excited about it. I just hope he is more punctual than I am with this updating thing.

Just to add the pictures to this one and I'll be away :D
Peace, friends.
Thanks for stopping by.

What's the dele?

Gosh. October was the last time I wrote things here?

Apologies.

And apologies again that this is to say that I will post something more substantial soon.

I've put up a little doodle of what I'm working on at the moment. I'll have a bit more over at my other blog - danfairweather.blogspot.com

Basically, I'm married and it's amazing. I've been having an amazing time with my wife and a lot has taken a back seat. I'm more than happy about that. We're finding a balance between life with each other and life with each other. It's great!

Anyhoo, I'm going to nip off, now. I've had a long(ish) day (I'm not complaining - my long days consist of me drawing for hours. I love it.), so I'm going to grab a snack, pick up a film for my wifey and me to watch later and go home to my wifey.

I had a thought about Christmas that I posted on Facebook. It's a bit late for it here now, so I think I'll post it later this year. It's still going to be relevant because it's how I feel and I don't think that will change drastically over the course of the next 12 months.

I love God. I love my wife. I love life.

I'll post a bigger entry soon. Most definitely within the next two months.

Bless.

Oh. I looks as though my blog hates the 'enter' key now. Hey ho.