2010: You Were Good to Me, Not to My Writing

2003 (senior year!), 2004 (girls!), 2006 (Guitar Hero II!), 2008 (new job!) were all good years. Compared to those years, 2010 was uneventful and outright boring for the most part.

First off, my writing nosedived in 2010. I did not devote much time to my creative craft as I probably should have devoted. Sparse blog posts, one short story, and one creative essay were all that I produced in 2010, and it was a pain to get most of those written. Am I losing my spark for creative writing? I like to think not, but I am going to definitely be re-focusing my writing efforts in 2011.

So what did I spend all my time doing in 2010? Being my first full year living on my own, I enjoyed the lifestyles of being in my own little bachelor pad: games, food, and relaxing were all near-full-time activities for me this year. I got to play some great new games, including all those games that came along with my purchasing an Xbox 360 in September. Minecraft became a big deal in September as well, and I play it religiously to this day.

In the spring of 2010 I took up a new project - originally called Yola, now called Tint - to learn new technologies. If my creative writing took a backseat in 2010, then my life as a programmer ramped into overdrive. I have learned most of the LAMP stack - including MySQL and PHP - as well as more advanced CSS, XHTML, and especially JavaScript. I created a miniature social networking site and developed a small game written for the HTML5 Canvas element. In 2010 I took my career as a programmer seriously. In 2011 I plan to take this to the next level, beginning with CodeMash in January. I hope to become a JavaScript guru in 2011, in addition to learning more PHP and ASP.NET / C#.

2010 was all about tinkering with what makes me tick in order to determine what I should do for myself in 2011. I have a solid focus on where I want to go in the next year, and with a huge list of goals to accomplish in 2011, there is no better time to begin than...

Now.

B3 out.

Zombies!!!

I have spent some of November and most of December learning the basics of developing a game, and here is a quick look at the late-alpha version of an HTML5 canvas game I am creating.

I call it "Zombies!!!"

It's a pretty basic game. you move the player around with the arrow keys with 8-directions of freedom. You can pick up pistols and shotguns as weapons against a march of zombies.

Right now, the game is as simple as survive and kill 50 zombies. Take a look with the links below.

Image 1

Image 2
Image 3

I do not intend to make a big deal of this game, nor spend too much time on it, but I do have a few features planned for future revisions:

• Different types of zombies (varying speed, damage)
• More weapons
• New graphics

I intend to be wrapped up with this game in time for CodeMash in mid-January, so check back around then to play a completed version of it!

B3 out.

Inspiration Is So Goddamn Important

I generally consider myself a creative person. Programming can be a very creative art, right along with writing and graphic design.

In the last few years, however, I have been far less creative than I believe I should be (writing, anyone?), and I attribute this to a lack of inspiration. How can I find inspiration with my drab eight-to-five daily routine. Even my weekly and monthly routines are stale - consistent and steady in the extreme.

I need to meet new people, see new places, and face new challenges. One of my goals for 2011 are now based on this need.

The end of 2010 presents a couple of chances for me to dive into a Reboot Weekend (weekend before Christmas?) to straighten myself out and really get ready for 2011's challenges, but really, I am in need of a reboot to help me find my creative side again, because I feel like I am dying without it.

Christmas Time

Does anyone else lacking that Christmas cheer and joy that usually hits by now? It feels more like September than December to me.

B3 out.