Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Homeschooling

Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men go awry and you end up with mouse pellets in your mashed potatoes.  We are home schooling the Boy now.  I had hoped things could be worked out at the public school, but despite a lot of effort, nothing changed and the bullying continued.  People can suck.

So the Baby Momma and I were discussing curriculum and teaching tools and got on the subject of math.  My eyes brightened.

"Do you know what they are selling as teaching aides?  It's a product called 'Math Dice.'  They come in all different sizes, like fours and sixes and eights and tens and twelves and twenties.  The student can roll up numbers and use them to create math problems on the fly.  The dice look remarkably like the Boy's D&D dice.  In fact, they are exactly like them!" I grinned and wiggled the empty fake Tupperware sandwich meat holder thingy that happened to be crammed packed with the Boy's dice on the kitchen table.

Baby Momma looked at me as if that was the most insane and nerdiest thing I had ever said.  Not even close.  The conversation moved on.

Later one morning I'm telecommuting at my desk while she and the Boy are in the middle of lessons at the kitchen table.

"It's math time," she said and pulled out a sheet of blank paper.  "I'm going to write down some problems and you can work them out."

She stared at the blank paper, as if taking in the complete and total blankness of it all.  It was very blank.  She looked up at the Boy.

"Go get your dice."

"Woohoo!" he ran off to get them.

I . . . yeah . . . hmm . . . never mind.

:)

- Ark

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

A Pearl By Any Other Shape Still Smells Like Swine

At least I think that's how the saying goes - from Shakespeare on the Mount 2: Electric Boogaloo, wasn't it?

Anyway, this is my latest visual spam.  The brilliant Daddy Grognard suggested that I replace the pearl with a d20, so there you go.  Over there.  The orange thing.  Yeah, that.

Let me know what you think. :)

- Ark

Monday, March 28, 2011

Links To Wisdom - Now In Technicolor

After replying to Carter Soles about color schemes and playing around a while with color, I think I have something that bridges the colors that I saw in my mind's eye with the palette on the Links To Wisdom site itself.

So the now colored logo attempt is now up.  Right over there.  You can't miss it.  Hopefully it evokes some sort of Wisdom.

Critiques welcome.

- Ark

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Links To Wisdom

There is a really nifty project called Links to Wisdom, cataloging all kind of smart stuff in the OSR blogosphere.  I feel left out of this project since I don't know where jack-crap is.  I read cool stuff, but I never remember where I saw it. 

So, I figured that since I happened to have the artistic muse buzzing around me at the moment, I'd try to be useful and do a logo for the site.  I'm a little bit unsure how to entry one for consideration, but I figured that if I just throw it off into the aether, it's probably end up before the right set of eyeballs.  Or, at least someone would hit me with the clue stick.

So here it is.  Feedback is welcome.  Coloring is always a possibility, if desired.  If it's not readily apparent why I drew this image for the Links of Wisdom site, then I have critically failed the roll on my Heraldry skill. :)

- Ark

Saturday, March 26, 2011

I'm Like WALMART Now!

I took Sniderman's advice and brought the Old School Rocks image to CafePress to make a t-shirt out of it.  I really want to wander around NTPRGCON in a t-shirt with the logo on it.  The boy, of course, needs one too.

If anyone else wants one, the CafePress Store is at http://www.cafepress.com/StudioArkhein.  You can also get mugs, backpacks, and clothing for your dog.  Geez. 

Or, if you want to do it yourself, I'll give you a copy of the 600 dpi colored version so you can go use your own t-shirting facilities.  It's YOUR picture, after all.  Honestly - I suck as a capitalist.  My heart just isn't in it. :)

- Ark

Friday, March 25, 2011

Old School Rocks d30 Version

Okay, since Spawn of Endra asked nicely, here is a d30 version of the Old School Rocks! image.  It's purple in honor of the mythical rientsdie. 

Who said I never did anything nice? :)

- Ark

Old School Rocks!

I've had this picture in my head for a couple of months now, and it was finally time to get it out.  It pretty much looks exactly like what I imagined, which is a first.  It's done with a black Sharpie on cheap copier paper and cleaned up/colored with Paint.net. Click on the image to see a wallpaper sized version in case you want to impress your computer.

It's yours.  I give it to the community.  Do with it what you will.  Spindle.  Fold.  Mutilate.  Clean out your ear wax with it.  Roll it up in your pipe and smoke it.  Print it out for hand outs at GenCon.  Put it on t-shirts.  Replace the flag of your local municipality with it.  You know, whatever.  ;)

If you want a 600 dpi non-colored version, just ask.

- Ark