Hey guys, remember how last time I said

"I need to get back on this site more often."

and then I disappeared for like a month?

Well, it turns out I was busy at work helping the team prepare the game for PAX! Crunch time ended just a while ago, which is why I suddenly was able to work on a pair of deviations. Anyhow, like last year, I'm going to be flying out to Seattle again to attend the convention. If any of you are going to be out there, head's up! I will be there stinking up the place with my pockets full of old bread-meat.

My schedule for booth duty is as follows, in case any of you want to hunt me down and tell me a story:
Saturday: 1:15-6:30 PM
Sunday: 11:45-2:00 PM

And for the vast majority of you who are not going to PAX, I um...I will share with you this 17-second video of how cool firefighters are! [link]


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It's been a week since I got back from Anime Expo, but I had to take care of some real life business first. Now that that's done, I can get to work on making an AX report! You guys can probably expect it in about a week. Or maybe more?

I'm planning to rewrite the squiggly-lines code and use a different paper texture than the one I've been using, so getting this one ready for showing might take a bit longer than the previous ones (that, and there's quite a bit to cover). Anyhow, when I'm done with it I'll see if I can upload the source .fla so anyone who's interested in how it works can take a look. Or I guess they could use it to make their own book thing and BUM OFF MY EFFORTS.

I'll probably make the squiggly effect something you can toggle off, too, since some people have told me that it makes their head hurt and yeah, I can see how that might kind of suck.

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Hey guys! It's been a while since I wrote a journal (or posted a deviation, or read through my message box for that matter), so here is one! Also, as a last minute notice, yes, I will be going to AX this year. Here's where you might find me:



As usual, I still have no table or way for anybody to find me. There is the possibility that if you bring a hot cross bun, you will eventually turn around and Whoah! there I am with my hands held open.

But as AX is a large place with many tastes and smells, there is also the chance that I will be unable to feel the bun's presence, and it will be a loss for the both of us.

And for the lot of you who are not going to AX, I will probably try to make another AX report when I get back! Not right when I get back, of course, but probably the week after or so.



I need to get back on this site more often.

EDIT:
I forgot to mention this, but I will be there on Saturday! Just Saturday.
Also, I made a grave mistake in confusing Funimation with another distributor. My deepest apologies for mixing up two very different companies!

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I haven't written anything since August, and the year's almost over! Augh!

Anyhow, I don't think there was any news that I wanted to share with you guys. I guess I could talk a bit about my plans for the coming year?

1) Art
Gonna keep drawing. It's something I like doing. I plan to revisit some old techniques from earlier parts of my gallery, like LINES and faux watercolors. I might also keep trying to find a way to make vector art look like paint.

2) Games
For a guy who professes to like programming, I sure have a whole lot of No Finished Games in my gallery. I should probably start thinking about reducing the scope of my projects to something more realizable in the time that it takes for me to get bored of it and start chasing another idea (roughly 1 month)

3) Stories??
I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from you guys on the mini stories I write in the comments (thanks!), and I'm thinking I should try exploring that area a bit more intentionally. Perhaps I'll start with something like a picture book? I think I'll try to make something next month that can be read in under 3 minutes and see how that fares in both production and reception.

4) Eating
and other life functions, so as to give the appearance of my still being alive.

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For the however-many of you guys that are going to PAX, you will very likely see me there, though for reasons not art related! Unlike whenever I go to AX, at PAX I will actually be at a booth at predictable times of the day*. Specifically, I will be at the Red 5 Studios booth (between Valve and Bioware), possibly floating within the vicinity or performing booth duties. If you see me, feel free to greet me and we can exchange airborne diseases! Mine is The Common Cold.

<sub>^{Oh yeah, also check out the booth as well. It's pretty cool.}


*Schedule
Friday 1:00-4:00
Saturday 8:30-12:00
Sunday 2:00-5:00</sub>

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...but I am currently at work and it might startle my coworkers, and then I'd have to explain the situation to them.

Anyhow, some of you may have noticed I've been inactive for the past month (or maybe you haven't! An absence is harder to notice than a presence). The reason for my apparent idleness is that I have been busy working on this:

[link]

Making this has reminded me how time-consuming animation is. It's kind of like cooking - you know how you can spend several hours preparing a dish, and when the time comes for it to be enjoyed it's gone in like 3 minutes? It's kind of like that, except instead of hours it is weeks.

And then there is programming, which is like the total opposite. You invest some time in writing up a function and you see it being used in a program potentially for years. It is magical. It is like magic cake, except old, hacky, and full of bugs.

So that was what I was up to for the past month. I should be returning to regular activity shortly; see you then!

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[link]

First one there wins!



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Thanks everybody who voted and/or left comments in the last poll. You guys left a lot of detailed feedback, and I really appreciate it. Anyhow, here is a brief rundown of it:

My observations:

People tended to like the Pencil technique more, though there were some concerns that it was too flat and unexpressive. And "blurry."

Next was the Brush technique, which, while kind of crude in some respects, was perceived as bold and animated, as well as being my "signature style."

Last was the Lineless technique, which people said looked like concept art or simply didn't like it. Some also thought it might work for cuter pieces.

My response:

I am glad that Pencil has been well received. Though it takes more time to work with, I feel it delivers more of the results I've been trying to achieve with the Brush. At this time I feel I am more inclined to pursue this technique than the Brush, since I see more room for development in the former than the latter.

Brush is cool, but I feel like there's not much left for me to experiment in this area unless Adobe gives it a makeover. I will still be using this technique, but it will not be my main focus for now. Hopefully the expressiveness and liveliness of my work can still be shown through things other than variable line width.

I am kind of sad that my Lineless work is seen as second-rate stuff. True, I am pretty sloppy with it, but I've seen it done right before and I think it has potential to be amazing! I'm going to hang on to this one even if only a minority appreciates it. IT IS MY UGLY CHILD AND I LOVE IT ;_;


Well, that's it for now. Thanks again, everybody!

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Hey, it's been a week since the end of Fanart February, and I haven't yet given any concluding remarks! I should do this before I forget. I will do things a little differently this year and briefly go over each fanart from the previous month:


Learned a new style of eyelash from drawing Ahiru. Also ended up watching some episodes and learning to appreciate simple but stylized anatomy. Stick limbs are cool, too! I wish I had invested some more time in the sketch phase of this picture to correct its base placement.


Only the large man was fun to draw. The others had too much detail in their costumes for my taste. My experience with this piece has led me to adopt this design philosophy for my future works: details are not bad, but don't rely on them to make a character interesting; that should be left to the silhouette.
(I am not accusing Borderlands of this, but this is simply the conclusion I reached after considering the role of details)


Loved how fast I was able to finish this one in comparison to the previous two. While looking at references, I was reminded that folds in clothing look best when used sparingly and in the correct spots, and also when used to define the shape over which it is draped.


Huge time investment, but well worth it. However, pleased though I am, I do not feel this is the direction I should carry my style in. Loved the soft shading, but I think cel-shading is where I should focus on, at least for now. I may occasionally revisit this technique to see if there is some way I can develop it for my work flow, though.
Oh, also remembered the double-eyelid from this. Don't know when I forgot it.


Most pleased with the Time/Quality ratio on this one. I also tried something I don't usually do: an exaggeration on convex curves. You can see this on Clockface's hands & arms and also parts of Wendy's clothing. I think I will have to consciously put this into practice more - it gives the line work a more organic feel. I wish I drew this with thinner lines, though...


This one I drew with thinner lines! Also of interest was that I almost drew every finger in this picture! For whatever reason, I tend to have this economizing habit of merging fingers into a finger-blob. This was probably something I picked up when imitating another artist's style. There are lots of things I do without realizing why, and I think identifying when finger-blobs are appropriate is going to be one of the things I need to start practicing.


A total joke, but was very well received! It is also now rank 16 in the list of [Most popular deviations in Fan Fiction ever submitted]! Also technically not fanart.
Learned nothing from it. Probably won't do it again, either, since the joke is done and I feel no need to draw it out.

And in regards to Fanart February as a whole, I think I will not do it again. At the end of the month, I realized I had been pushing myself to produce as much fanart as I could in a month, and almost every moment at my computer was spent in this endeavor. That was not fun, and the purpose of Fanart February in the first place was to be a time for me to relax and not burn myself out trying to create original content all the time. Now I am burning myself out trying to create copyrighted content. It makes no sense, and also resulted in me not submitting any fanart outside the month of February.

So in conclusion, not gonna do it next year. I will instead just draw fanart Once In A While Whenever It Feels Appropriate. There is no good reason to do only fanart in February and never anytime else.



How many of you remembered I put "+ More Stuff" in the title of this journal?

Well, guess what, my stalkers - I have participated in another text-only interview here: [link]
And for those of you who are wondering about that word "another," here was the older, firster one: [link]

Okay, I think that's all I have for you.
Congratulations on braving the wall of text.

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As I stood in the kitchen eating garlic flavored faba beans, it dawned on me that February had arrived. You guys remember February, right? February of "Fanart February"? That's right - I am going to be whoring out drawing fanart again!

For those of you who have forgotten or were simply not here last year, Fanart February is when I draw a bunch of fanart for various reasons. One is to simply indulge in the stuff I like. Another is to secretly hope to strike it rich with a fanbase and rake in the pageviews pay my respects to other creative minds (often by making fun of them). And of course, fanart is also useful for growing as an artist by copying style and content and learning from that. It's kind of like the basis of homework - you can learn only so much from observation (lecture), but it's not until you actually practice it that the knowledge becomes real. So respect your teachers, children! They are working hard for your education.



On a completely different matter, for those of you who don't read the author's comments (I know you exist. Your comments tell me you don't read them), I've put up draw videos for my previous two deviations on YouTube. Here are links to them:

[link] (this one is a mermaid)
[link] (this one is even cooler than a mermaid)

They are sped up so you can't actually tell what I'm doing, but they will at least give you a high-level idea of what the process is behind my art (e.g. - sketch -> lines -> color -> background -> lighting). I don't plan to do anymore videos in the immediate future, as they are kind of stressful for me - it's kind of a blend of pressure and stage fright. Anyhow, those two videos have accomplished my goal of showing you the difference between how I draw lineless and lined art, so there will probably not be another video until I come up with or remember a technique I think you guys might be interested in.

I am hungry. Good night.

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Over the weekend my family and I have been on the road. It has been my first out-of-state experience within the States, so it was pretty cool. The plan was to drive from Orange County (CA) to the Grand Canyon (AZ), and then to Las Vegas (NV) in the course of three days. Anyhow, here is what we did!

Day 1: Woke up at 6:00 am, got ready to leave.


Sometime in the afternoon, I took the driving shift. For quite a while, our only company on the road was a red car traveling some distance ahead of us. I developed a kind of bond with it after half an hour.

I shed a single tear at our parting when it exited left. Goodbye, red car.

Before our first destination of the Butt-crack of America, we first stopped at the Rectum of America - the Grand Canyon Caverns. It was a pretty cool place despite the nickname I gave it - apparently the air is so dry down there that even microbes can't last longer than 72 hours. There is no known ecosystem in there. Oh, and also we saw the mummified remains of a bobcat that fell into the caverns. Apparently it died an excruciating death by suffocation. That was the highlight of day 1.

Day 2A: Drove to the hole in the ground known as The Grand Canyon. Interestingly, I always imagined it was a deep crack in the earth, kind of like a narrow valley. But it is wider than it is deep, so it's appearance is more like that of a scar, or those cuts in bread. Anyhow, here is a handsome picture of myself and the Grand Loaf Cut, cursing the bright sun. How I hate it. Also saw an interesting sign that answered a question I did indeed have in mind: [link]

Day 2B: Proceeded to head to Las Vegas along the 93. Poor choice. Got stuck in traffic for almost 2 hours. The car in front of us had a license plate that read "WUSSTIG". My brothers and I could not figure out what it meant, and ultimately we settled on it being a babyish pronunciation of "rustic" (though some Googling just now seems to indicate that "Wusstig" is a family name). We did not know what was holding up traffic, so we took turns guessing what it was: a beached whale, a traffic accident, or security checkpoint. At the end of the multi-mile long snake of stopped cars, it turned out to be a security checkpoint. We did not have the droids they were looking for, so we went through without a problem. Drove over the Hoover Dam, admired the view, cursed it for requiring security, and arrived at Vegas at 9 pm.

Day 3A:

Day 3B: left late in the afternoon and headed for home. Hooray! We are all tired and full of buffet.


my first words upon returning:


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This journal entry is almost kind of forced in the sense that I am aiming to have at least one journal entry every month this year (and since I'm writing it at 11 pm, it is probably already December for a great number of you. Well, at least I can deceive myself).

BUT I did intend to write about this stuff several days ago, so this isn't something that was just thrown together for the sake of this weird goal I established for myself, no.

Well, actually nevermind, yes. The thing I wanted to say is taking too long for me to write up properly, so I will leave it for another day. So while it is still November here in California, I will come up with something else!



I hear Flash CS5 will be able to build apps for the iPhone & iPod Touch. Since I have one of the latter, I am kind of excited to try developing something and seeing it run on commercial hardware that is not a computer. Too bad I have a terrible history of not finishing my flash games, and the iPhouch has a terrible interface for conventional gaming! But maybe that will force me to figure out something more creative within these technical constraints.

AHHHH! 11:59!

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It occurred to me that in my recent deviation's edit (the edit being removed now that I no longer need it), I may have come across as saying "Hey guys why aren't you leaving me comments"

which is NOT what I wanted to say

I'm grateful for most of the comments you guys leave (I'll leave the ones I don't appreciate for another time), and I appreciate them mostly for that fact that you guys make them spontaneously of your own volition and as a natural response. I like this kind of honest feedback to the point that I would encourage you to not leave a comment if you don't feel like it (and I believe a large number of you do. )

So for that reason, I apologize to anyone who had to explain to me why they didn't leave a comment.
You guys should never have to explain yourself to me, unless you are leaving slanderous messages on my page and shoutbox and reporting violations on my deviations left and right for no reason. What I really mean is that you guys don't need to tell me why you fav'd half my gallery and didn't say a thing. You are totally free to do that, and I respect that. I myself don't leave comments very often, so I don't expect anyone to do so for me. It is welcome, though, and much appreciated.

The other thing I want to say is that yes, I do read all comments you leave. I obviously do not respond to them all, and even sometimes my closest friends can leave comments without my saying anything (sorry! I really do try to make an extra effort). Whether I respond or not does not have to do with how much I like you or your comment, though. Someone might say "I loved this!" and another will say "I am disappointed" and I might just not say anything to either. Or I might just silently place it in my folder of memories for laughs, or to plot vengeance one day. WHO KNOWS.

Oh, and as long as I have this journal set up about comments, I also want to point out that the Artist's Comments may or may not contain a story. That time I left a simple "No." in the box, you guys did a splendid job of not giving me sass about lack of story. Up until about halfway through the day, when they started popping up. It wasn't a lot, and I wasn't upset, but I want to make it clear that if I do not feel a story is appropriate for a deviation (or the characters simply do not stir my imagination), I will not write one. Those things can take up to an hour to write (not everything I type makes it into the final draft).

Well, that's about it for now. Thanks for keeping me company so far, and I look forward to what the future has in store and turn a blind eye to the horrendous disasters that are sure to come!

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(followup from [link])

Alright, so firstly I shall reveal the true nature of the puzzle I presented to you last week.

As five of you have guessed, it is indeed a networking problem thinly disguised as a riddle. The Leitan Sea is reference to "latency" and Ping/Pong is a latency test. Furthermore, the rats run on a band width and carry packets of data.

I came up with this idea while I was working on a Flash game at home and trying to synchronize the clock between a client and a server. Ultimately my solution was to find the round trip time and divide it in half to get a reasonable approximation for the return trip time. This approximation was then added to the time-stamp received from the server to guess the correct time when it arrives.

But then I realized I did't actually need this for my game, so I didn't pursue it further. However, I found the whole ordeal entertaining and thought I'd share it in a less technical manner. This led me to make up a story (which, by the way, has some edits on the bottom that many of you have not been alerted to) and put it in my journal.


And then there were your responses.


There was quite a variety of comments.

Some understood the nature of the problem and came to similar conclusions.
Some came close but either overcompensated or didn't compensate at all for the return trip time.
Some just went "Argh! Math!" while others went "Oh! Physics!" (but you were both on the wrong track)
Some said it was easy and then followed it up with an answer that was wrong.
Some dismissed the brothers' dilemma and instead embraced a lifestyle of reckless debauchery.
Some suffered from rat lust and insisted on sending streams of rats, but only using the first and last.

Many either didn't read or follow the instructions and thought outside the box anyway.
Many proposed audio cues or misuse of the available materials, despite the conditions set forth.
Many proposed a sundial, which, in addition to being more complicated than one might think, is imprecise as well.
Many proposed utilizing the position of the sun, which is even less precise and more subject to human error.

I had to read like 800 of these.

I am so tired.



Oh, and as for why I suggested I might be racist in the title, it is because I named a pair of Chinese people "Ping" and "Pong" and then gave them a Made in China clock and bridge.
Also they love money and have small genitalia.

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Rather than let a month go by without updating my journal, I thought I would update my journal.

Anyhow, I hope you guys like puzzles, because here is one for you:

In the Leitan Sea there are a pair of brothers - Ping and Pong - who live on separate islands. Due to shoddy workmanship, Ping's clock is now off by an unknown amount and he has no clue what time it is. Luckily, his brother Pong has a clock that is still accurate. But the bridge that connects their houses is also a victim of shoddy workmanship, and has deteriorated to nothing more than a band spanning the gap, and cannot support a man's weight.

However, Ping and Pong have at their disposal a gratuitous supply of paper and rats. Ping is able to write a message, tie it into a neat little packet on a rat's tail, and send the rat across the bridge to his brother (who is able to do the same). Using this method, Ping can send a query to Pong for the time, and Pong can send a reply via rat.

However, the times it takes for the rats to cross the bridge are unknown. Furthermore, because of the difference in elevation, the time it takes for the rat to cross is different going up from going down.

The goal:
Using only the messenger rats and the clocks, is it possible for Ping to synchronize his clock to Pong's? And if not, what is the smallest margin of error one can achieve?

This is not a trick question - do not think outside the box. Use the clocks only as time references and the rats only as postal creatures. The rat is only capable of running from one point to the other without stopping or changing direction, as it is a magical rat. Ping and Pong can send any number of rats at any time without worry of the bridge breaking, as they are magical rats. Rat magic also allows them to read/write letters instantaneously and without ink.



The closest I could get was
error < |(time from Ping to Pong) - (time from Pong to Ping)|/2
If anyone can get it down more than that, please let me know.

Made in Flash

EDIT: The clock is huge and built into the house. Don't move it.
EDIT2: Ping and Pong cannot see each other's houses nor the progress of the rats, as there is a thick sea mist between them (not shown in illustration).
EDIT3: Ping and Pong are concerned about the time because a dragon gave them each a golden box and told them "I will bring you women if you can drop these boxes into the ocean within 8 seconds of each other" and then he went into Ping's house and reset his clock and used his toothbrush without permission.

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For my passive stalkers who are not actively stalking like they promised they would, I recently (i.e. - 4 months ago) filled out an interview questionnaire from `Age2003, the Flash Gallery Director. It has been posted and is available for your viewing here:

[link]

See how much work I have to do for you?

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I'm sleepy from not-sleeping, so I'm going to make this brief:

1) Gonna be at AX this Saturday. Dunno where I'm gonna be exactly, but I plan to wander around aimlessly with some money. If you find me and recognize me, you can greet me. I'm probably not going to give you any money though.

2) I don't know how this phobia got revived again, but a reminder to my note-sending-watchers that Alfred Hundana is a bogeyman. Cut it out, yo.

Well, that's it. G'night y'all!

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EDIT: Craaaap I did not check my links. First link fixed

It's meeeeeeee!

Friday morning I returned to the podiatrist and had my stitches removed, and promptly WALKED OUT of the office ON MY OWN TWO FEET _{^{and a crutch because my foot then proceeded to yawn and bleed out of its new mouth a bit}</sup>}.

But I tell you, it sure feels good to be able to travel moderate distances and transport objects by hand again. Now if I want to get a drink I don't have to sit there and think about if it is worth the effort or not. It was an interesting time in my life, at least, and I had the opportunity to cause all sorts of trouble at Disneyland and E3.

Also, remember how I made a big deal about the temperature sticker that was on my head for a week? Well now it is somewhere else.

Also, yes, one leg is now larger than the other.

Well, I have managed to not submit any art for over a month. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things soon. What I need is homework. And having to study for a test. Those were the things that made me want to draw back in the day.

Oh, I should probably warn you about the first picture linked up near the top - it might be kind of gross, so don't click on it if you are like "oh my gosh I hate seeing dried up black blood and open wounds and feet that haven't seen water for three weeks." Because that's what the picture is of.

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(Update at bottom of entry)

== Original Entry: 5/24/09 ==

The answer is...
Me!
Surprise!

Sorry for not drawing or saying anything for a long, long time, and some of you have left comments asking if I have died. Sadly, no. You will have to bear with me a little longer.

Anyhow, as for the reason behind my crutches, it is because I have recently had foot surgery! I will be enjoying this Memorial Day weekend with my right foot wrapped in gauze and being unable to put weight on it (because the podiatrist says the stitches cannot handle that kind of stress and it will cause terrible scarring). My greatest joy is that I get to wear this massive boot that looks kind of cool. My greatest sadness will be my inability to use my hands while moving. Doors shall require tricky timing.

And as for the reason behind my surgery, it is because I have a mole on the bottom of my foot that has been looking kind of funky and changing size & color over the past year (comparisons here: [link] - please excuse the difference in lighting, and don't ask why I had a picture from a year ago). Concerned that it could be melanoma, I made use of my health insurance and had an excisional biopsy. So now my foot is useless for about 3 weeks, as quoted by the podiatrist! I will see him again this Friday and probably learn the results of the analysis as well.

There are three outcomes I see here:
1) it's just a mole - good news, and now I will have a pretty foot unblemished by a weird mole. It will instead have a scar, which I can make up stories for. Podiatrist is hoping for this, so it means it is a possibility.
2) it is skin cancer - good news, because then we've caught it early and it was a good call. Take that, bodily mutation! I might have to go in for further treatment, but at least it'll be good to know we did something about it.
3) it is terminal skin cancer - good news, because then I know the time of my death and can spend the remaining days of my life in a meaningful way, unlike those many whose lives were ended tragically and suddenly. I am rather confident that this is not the case, though, since it sounds like the moles the doctor is used to dealing with are much worse in appearance and...behavior? One of the surgeons was even confused when he looked at my foot: "What? We're doing this? *points at mole* Not this? *points at toe callus*"



Oh, something cool that also happened that day was that they stuck an adhesive strip on my forehead that read my temperature, but forgot to remove it after the operation because I guess my hair was covering it. So I still have it! *_*

*is so cool*

== Update: 5/30/09 ==

Alright, so I went back for a followup appointment with my podiatrist on Friday and he redressed the bandages and checked to make sure the incision was not infected. He had not heard back from the pathology department yet, so that usually means it is benign. Hooray! So now I don't have to worry about it anymore and won't have to have my lymph nodes examined.

Also, after a whole week I finally removed that temperature strip and took a shower and changed my clothes.

Feels pretty good, I tell ya.

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By the way, for anyone not sure what that was, it was this.

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