Myst III Themes

Myst 3 Desktop Theme

The Myst III themes I made are up (finally)!! They’re still not linked from myst3.com, but I assume they will be soon. Until then, you can find them on download.com. For some reason, they posted the themes under the screensavers category, but I guess it doesn’t matter because they’ve already got over 6000 downloads! The themes weigh in at a hefty 11MB, due to the extra wallpapers and the installer that Presto felt the need to add. The installer is kinda dorky, and doesn’t give you any options, but I guess corporations feel nervous about giving their users options. It’s still exciting to see that it’s up! Once it’s downloaded, if you look in the directory the themes are installed in, there’s a link to spaceninja.com in the readme file! I kinda doubt I’ll get many hits from the readme file that’s buried in the install folder, but it’s still very cool. And in case you don’t want to wait for the download or install the themes, I posted screenshots on spaceninja.com.

Edit: The themes are no longer available on myst3.com or download.com, but you can check them out here at the Space Ninja Downloads page.

Moving Back to Portland

We might be moving back to Portland this summer, instead of next summer, as we had originally planned. The situation here is a lot rougher than either of us had thought it would be. The job market is terrible. Annie’s still unemployed, and my boss has cut my hours back so much that we’re barely able to cover bills. After my money from the Myst3 job runs out, we won’t be able to cover them unless Annie finds a source of income. So that’s one reason. In addition, Annie is “not excited” about school next year. She says that it might make sense to move back to Portland, because then she could do Americorps for another year, and then finish up school down there, at PSU. And on top of all that, we can’t deny that one of the reason is that nearly all of our friends are moving this summer. Urn and Kat will be leaving, and so will Eric and Jill. Becky and Jessi will still be here, but we barely see them anyway.

We talked about it for a long time last night, and it’s sounding better each time we talk. The only problem is that unless the money situation improves a lot, and quickly, enabling us to get some money saved, when we move back, we won’t actually have enough money to move into an apartment right away. We’ll probably have to move into my parent’s house for a little bit while we both find jobs and get enough money cached to pay first month’s rent, plus security and cleaning deposit.

We still need to check a few things out, like if moving early breaks our lease, or if we can just take off in the summer, and whether Annie can get another job in Americorps. Still, the job market in Portland is so much better than here, that even if we both had to take crummy mall jobs or something, we’d be okay. Plus, Portland means that I could try to get a graphic design job, or even get involved in web design!

It’s all still up in the air, and basically it’s Annie’s decision, but we’re checking out our options.

In addition to all that, I finally realized that my cousin Deni married the lead singer of the Ataris, a band that I like. When my family told me that Deni had married a rock star, I kinda rolled my eyes, and even when I met him, I didn’t place the name of the band. But Annie and I were on the radio and played two songs by his band that I know, and love! So suddenly it all fell into place! Cool!

Jester called me and told me he has no idea why my second check from the Myst3 job hasn’t gotten to me, and that he also has no idea why the themes aren’t up on the site yet. Apparently both should have been done quite a while ago. As soon as I know what’s up, I’ll post about it.

Taking Things Too Seriously

Some people take things too seriously. It always amazes me when I see how stressed out people get over the smallest things in their lives. It’s like “HEY! You’re alive! You’ve got friends! You’ve got food to eat and a roof over your head! Lighten up!” But of course, I don’t say stuff like that to people, because I’m a big fscking hypocrite. :)

On a completely unrelated note, our first radio show went amazingly well. I was pretty nervous when we got into the studio, but by a half hour into the show, I felt 100% better. We still have plenty of room to improve, but WE CAN DO IT, which I wan’t entirely sure of, before. This show is going to rule. Next project: Fliers and a website for it.

Computer status: Annie’s is still toast, as I’ve found no time yet where I could get Urn to help me without getting him in trouble. ;) My computer is working fine, despite the complete and total lack of all my graphics files. :(

Jester contacted me, and the themes have been approved with one final revision to be made, which I’ll have to do tonight. Then, as soon as they get the installer made, they’ll post it on the website. Hooray!

Also, I need to start making new hammerspace strips. I’ve got a bunch of ideas. :)

Server Problems

Lots of crazy stuff going on lately. The Myst 3 themes contract got approved, and this weekend I was putting the finishing touches on the themes. Just a couple more tiny touches, and they’ll be complete! I’ll post screenshots for people to see when they’re done.

Obviously, (to anyone who visits the site frequently), the server was down for awhile recently. I got a panicked ICQ message from Steve asking if I could pitch in for a new motherboard. To our relief, we found out the next night that the server wasn’t dead at all, just the ISP had switched his IP number without telling him. So a couple days later, things were fine.

As for Studio Fojar, things are going well. The three of us are still excited about the idea, which is more than I can say about most of our ideas. I promise I’ll put up a big post about here soon, and get the site done up properly soon.

Oh, and KT’s christmas gift got here today. Once again, KT has triumphed in the gift department. She consistently finds these amazingly cool gifts that make me feel pathetic for what I got her. Anyways, I opened the package to find a large velvet box, which contained what appears to be a silver-plated mouse with my initials engraved on it. It’s hilarious. I’ll get a photo of it up somehow.