Silent Movie Silent Film Title Card: Free Download

Back by very popular demand...my free silent movie title card!  

by Farrin N. Abbott, CopyCatFilms

Please note: I am a professional video producer and I do not appreciate major brands, networks and professionals using my design WITHOUT crediting me as a source. You see, I created this design because there was a lack of available options. I spent many days getting it just right and as a result I decided that something so common should be widely available. I decided to share, asking for credit when used. I would also appreciate a comment with a link to your work. It's not required, but I would like to see the creative ways it has been used around the web.

And as many people have over the years, please feel free to ping with links of use that you discover, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (s2 ep9) -- I'M LOOKIN' at YOU. Have some class.

Also note, I am not interested in helping you format this for a powerpoint or changing any feature--unless of course you are looking to hire me. I'm sorry but that's just reality.

Here are the links to download. And here is the link from 2010 with lots of creative examples where it's been used. Thank you all for sharing and making the internet a creative and inspiring place to work!

Photoshop Versions (AE version is too big for hosting these days):

Silent Movie Title HD

Silent Movie The End Title Card HD

Silent Movie The END Title Card NTSC DV Widescreen

With respect,

Farrin N. Abbott CopyCatFilms

P.S. If you find these tutorials and tips helpful, please consider donating a few dollars to our adoption fund!

Diving Back Into JavaScript

Never thought I'd say that again, but here I go... In times of transition and change, I like to consume my thoughts with learning new shit. Perhaps that's why I have so many crazy skills that I pull together in weird ways? Anyway, I've done a lot with website design and html5 building over the years -- most were all related to a video experience of some sort. Clickable choose your own adventures and such.

But a few weeks ago, I was talking with a few amazing people about the future of education and my spark for coding was reignited.  I'd like to dive into Unity, but for now I'm going to see this out with JavaScript. I've made it so far and I really think JS helps a lot with After Effects expressions. I just don't want to build a crappy website as part of an online project. So I won't.

Maybe I'll find a reasonable bootcamp. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll just learn straight from the damn books -- just as I have with everything else.

When I was young, I remember everyone in my family talking about one of my cousins that never played tennis (a faux pas in my family) so he read a book about it and immediately became one of the strongest players. It kinda blew my mind and changed my perspective.

Eons ago, I printed out the entire Final Cut Pro manual and learned video editing front to back using that giant binder. Worked for him and it worked for me. I haven't stopped self teaching myself since.

...And hey...we spent Christmas in Paris this year. How amazing is that???

A Couple Rebel Top Gun Pilots Flying in San Francisco

It's been a rather exciting few months around here. We set up some homemade dynamite and turned our lives upside down, gave up the huge loft in the cushy suburbs and found an amazing (smaller) apartment in San Francisco. I should add that we NEVER have a hard time finding a place when we want to, but SF is an entirely different beast. I know everyone says that, but we went through everything to get this place. We lost $800 on an apartment and we spent our lives to get settled. It was FULL of challenges. One of the biggest challenges was fitting our giant apartment of stuff down into (still a large apartment for San Francisco but) a much smaller place. It was the most stressful and secretly exciting part for me. I love a design challenge and my life is my top design priority. Mariela was amazingly patient during the whole process. She talked to me about dining room tables until she fell into a daytime coma about it. Surprisingly, it was after the table was completely standing in our dining room! She really stuck it out with me. The most wonderful thing she did was to make a giant 11x17 to-scale printout of our new apartment floorplan. It really melted my heart. Most people would think, big fuckin deal. But it really showed how much she cared and how much she really knows how my crazy mind works about this shit.  She even painstakingly helped me make to-scale paper versions of our couch, bed, desk and fantasy dining room table options!!! That's love.

I went to work designing and planning like a madman for the next month. I reconfigured the layouts a million times and the day we moved in -- my plan was completely in motion. I knew where everything needed to go and it was brilliant. It IS brilliant. Our apartment is finally done and it's time for a party!!!

I'm sensitive to my surroundings. I can only get to my creative zone in a creative environment. I've worked myself stupid to achieve that. I never forget where I came from -- a tiny, crumbling shack of cockroaches. My environment is important, perhaps a little too much. But I firmly believe in living for right now because tomorrow may never happen.

Never dreamed that we would end up in San Francisco though! It feels like a dream and I'm scared to wake up. And then I wake up to floor-to-ceiling windows! I'm so grateful for the chances I've been given and the fact that I've leapt onto them at every opportunity. It's the one thing about my unstoppable Granny that I always didn't like -- she doesn't handle change well at all. She fights it tooth and nail. I've always tried to embrace change. I owe that to Mariela. She's the leaper in our family and she pushes me to jump.

We've changed so much during the 16 years together that we're almost unrecognizable from when we met. Somehow we always manage to change and morph around each other. Sure, there have been mistakes and veers off path, but we find our way back to the sea (as Stevie says).

Discover & share this Nick S GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

So now our home studio is alive and well and I'm not fussing over bookcases and dining room tables anymore. I've been focusing my energy on an animation project that I hope to finish this week. But I always get upset and restless when I start to finish a project, like "what's next??" "is there anything else that I can do?" "where do I funnel energy now?"...

It's silly really, I have about 500 projects going at once right now at work. But I'm constantly looking for that path. I know I'll find it if I just keep going. Interests are not my problem, I have about a 100 things I want to learn right now. I just have a hard time figuring out where I should narrowly focus my attention because there are sooooo many things I want to do.

• I want to get our podcast going again, like regularly.
• I want to focus on photography again.
• I want to edit our Europe footage together.
• I want to tell more stories with animation.
• So do I dive back into character animator? Maybe that's a great plan for the next stroll down memory lane...

I also need to dive into some code and fix this website theme, upgrade or move everything to SquareSpace...? I'm just not convinced that it can handle all the customizations of Wordpress. I always feel like it's a platform for people that have no idea how to code html or css. Obviously from everything that I've said just in this post you can tell I like a lot of control. :-/

Anyway, I've rambled on enough with this overall life update. These are a few of my favorite photos and events of the past few months, getting settled in San Francisco:

• Roomba busted up the 18 year old RENT poster frame and carried around shards of glass for a few hours, thoroughly terrorizing the kitties.

#Roomba disaster zone! "Behind this door is shards of glass and traumatized kitties..." 😾#waitingfortheweekend #walkingonbrokenglass

5 Likes, 1 Comments - CopyCatFilms (@copycatfilms) on Instagram: "#Roomba disaster zone! "Behind this door is shards of glass and traumatized kitties..."..."

• The amazing dining room table that we finally bought on our 16th anniversary. I love sitting right next to my espresso machine, working for hours facing a floor-to-ceiling window. We've come a long way, together.

Waited 16 years for a table. Seems totally worth it. A beautiful stranger sold us the table we wanted on our anniversary...and we ate like civilized people. ❤️

17 Likes, 3 Comments - CopyCatFilms (@copycatfilms) on Instagram: "Waited 16 years for a table. Seems totally worth it. A beautiful stranger sold us the table we..."

• Drag shows are our favorite past-time. We made Rupaul Drag Race Watch Parties a part-time job. Here are some hilarious pictures of our adventures. Talking to Eureka was probably my personal highlight. I love her because she's fierce and hilarious.

6 hours later. I nearly choked to death on the confetti explosion of "It's Raining Men" and figured, "naturally this is the way I would go"... 😂 Another incredible night with the fairy dragson. ❤️ #drag #sanfrancisco

18 Likes, 2 Comments - CopyCatFilms (@copycatfilms) on Instagram: "6 hours later. I nearly choked to death on the confetti explosion of "It's Raining Men" and..."

I know, why are they sitting 🙄-this is or was (for Charlie anyway) a race! #dragraceseason9

13 Likes, 2 Comments - CopyCatFilms (@copycatfilms) on Instagram: "I know, why are they sitting 🙄-this is or was (for Charlie anyway) a race! #dragraceseason9"

Fierce mama. @eurekaohara San Francisco loves you. #rupaulsdragrace #shonteyoubettabeonseason10

16 Likes, 1 Comments - CopyCatFilms (@copycatfilms) on Instagram: "Fierce mama. @eurekaohara San Francisco loves you. #rupaulsdragrace #shonteyoubettabeonseason10"

Excited to see @nina_bonina_brown who doesn't give a shit because she knows y'all are talking behind her back 😝#DragRace #thisisnotrupaulsbestfriendsrace

19 Likes, 2 Comments - Mariela Abbott (@gutteda) on Instagram: "Excited to see @nina_bonina_brown who doesn't give a shit because she knows y'all are talking..."

Finishing our #rupaulsdragrace season circuit with an evening of @allaboutvalentina -and guess what? She's got talent! (And of course beautiful & perfect.) 👏 🏁

11 Likes, 1 Comments - CopyCatFilms (@copycatfilms) on Instagram: "Finishing our #rupaulsdragrace season circuit with an evening of @allaboutvalentina -and guess..."

@eurekaohara!!!! #backstage #weloveyou #shonteyoubettabeonseason10

16 Likes, 3 Comments - Mariela Abbott (@gutteda) on Instagram: "@eurekaohara!!!! #backstage #weloveyou #shonteyoubettabeonseason10"

• And I have to say, I was actually terrified at the final showing of Peaches Christ Showgirls! It took me 10 years to make it to a showing. She never disappoints. Only in San Francisco would you find yourself running from a drag show in fear! I love you, Peaches. (Please let me redo your website and work with you on media projects. ♥)

We set these people up with our large 🍿 for a free lap dance...as we ran scared from the Children of the Popcorn! #peacheschrist #showgirls #drag

13 Likes, 2 Comments - Mariela Abbott (@gutteda) on Instagram: "We set these people up with our large 🍿 for a free lap dance...as we ran scared from the Children..."

Chrome Niko Camera Bag Sling In Action

I'm so thoroughly impressed with the Chrome Niko Camera Bag sling that I bought over a year ago that I absolutely have to share. I've used it more lately, and especially most recently for our gigantic European adventure over the Christmas and New Years holiday to London, Paris and Madrid. It was my only bag used for the 3 week trip (with a small rolling suitcase that held my laptop). It held absolutely everything that I needed and actually made the long haul home even better by protecting some beautiful artwork by a Parisian street artist! I am just blown away by how much it held, how great it worked, how the buckle made it easy to snap around the pull arm of my luggage...seriously incredible. This small camera bag is a must have for anyone traveling with camera equipment:

ITEMS CARRIED, at the same time:

• Joby DSLR Tripod
• iPad Pro w/Apple Pencil (yay even the cap survived!)
• Over the ear headphones
• small moleskine reporter w/blackwing
• gloves (flip over mittens with fingerless!)
• Canon 60D
• Shure Lenshopper DSLR shotgun (mounted!)
• Osmo Mobile Gimbal (LOVE this thing!!!!)
• Canon 24mm pancake lens
• Zeiss 35mm lens
• analog pencil case & sharpener
• Peak Design camera strap (must have)
• lens cloths
• all the power cords ever (iphone, Apple Watch, Osmo, headphone)
• charger and extra 60D battery
• 2TB hard drive
• California bear hat
• Art from an adorable little man drawing along the river in Paris, outside of the Louvre.

The only small note is that I would like to see the heavy seatbelt Chrome buckle in black or even a smaller version for this bag--it got me stopped at several boarding gates because it makes the bag seem larger when over the shoulder because the chrome seatbelt is very prominent. They now offer a camo version with the black buckle but I would like the black on black option, I'm not into carrying camo at the airport, or really anywhere for that matter.

Coming Out of the Darkness with Art

Website is busted, again. I like to think of it as another robot in my life...roomba, hue lights, sonos...wordpress! I'm not losing another weekend to trying to fix our portfolio. I have another site for that anyway. It seems to work flawlessly, thanks Tumblr. I'm proud of myself for getting our podcast feed working again! We're terrible about making them and that's the only way to be successful at it, I know. But that's not our goal. Each one is a success to me. This is all a longer story, put together in various pieces of media. I won't limit myself to one. --But I've been inspired, a lot lately by a few remarkable podcasters and that does make me want to do them a little more frequently. However, I am trying to get a really long video edit done before we leave for EUROPE! I want to finish it for many reasons. Namely, my travel hard drive needs to be free!

The edit probably won't happen though. I have about a million things to do before we fly around the world. The point of this post is that I want to say what a horribly hard couple of weeks it has been for many of us. I've only found solitude in art. I look to artists to say the things that need to be said and with our support, they will. So support local art and artists!Support public media and real news sources. I am so saddened by the recent Pew research that said most people get their news from Facebook that I haven't even been able to return. There has to be more for us. I don't know about you, but I don't want my news curated by childhood friends from my hometown. Do you?

Don't get me wrong, I really miss hearing updates about the people in my life that are scattered through time and huge distances. The separation has added to the darkness of the days. But I don't want my worldview shaped by a tech company setup to share college stories on campus. I lived #startuplife and it's not for me. (A wonderful life experience, but it ain't me.) I've enjoyed trying to immerse myself in local culture and art, as part of my job, but it's so fulfilling for my life. What an incredible opportunity. California is more than I could have dreamed and we dreamed about it for more than 10 years!

I'm a Capricorn though. I like to be absorbed in work and the more I work, the more it all becomes a melding of what I love to do with my days anyway.  Speaking of, I bought the best book about hand lettering recently. I'll write more about that later. It's kind of for work, but I'll be sure to share any horribly drawn lettering projects here! :) I am a sucker for an artists story--the passion, the drive, the determination to never give up. It fills my heart with drive. I need to fill my wallet with money so I can afford font making software...where's the open source!?

We attended an art event at the Embarcadero last night. Well, it was really a maker event -- people building really cool shit with crazy tools. It was terrific! We are so anxious to move to the city now. There's so much to do. The opportunities are endless. But I have some anxiety about leaving this gloriously soft life. It's a process that is going to take me some getting used to. Until then, I will continue to hack Waze to give me the rich people routes to the city. I'm serious. They route me to 101 every day, but I can beat their time by taking 280...stop pandering to the Teslas and let me drive! I'm Waze royalty damn't!

Speaking of royalty, if you're in the market for a good show about a woman's rise to power and a country that supported her, please check out Netflix's The Crown! That gave me a lot of comfort about the state of women (in other countries anyway). Great Britain has had something like 6 or 9 queens...I'm scared I'm going to love London too much...*God save the queen!

*whatever God that you may or may not believe in.

Settling In-PR Dreams

Well life is once again a whirlwind and half the time I think I'm still dreaming, but then I wake up on the highway and realize I'm driving one of the most beautiful roads in the country on my way to SAN FRANCISCO...again!!! Yeah, I just finished my first month at...are you ready for this: a TV & Radio station! Don't worry I'm not on TV (yet) but I have an amazing new job doing what I love -- media production. But I'm not writing about my job. I just want to write about the fact that I was told not to chase my dreams in media production. It was never malicious or hurtful, it was real, solid, sound, careful advice that I should pursue something that would enable me to find stable work. The truth is, I wouldn't be here without that stable solid education that I will be literally indebted to until the day I die! But it was never what I wanted to do and that's okay too. It made me have to really work for my media making skills and I'm grateful. I'm grateful that I didn't spend 4 years studying a medium that would change by the time I graduated. I've seen too many "classically trained" filmmakers rest back on their education like it's a card to never have to learn anything new again. Well wake up, this is a digital medium changing faster than software. This isn't the history of the Ming Dynasty...No, I'm actually really glad I studied a whole range of stuff that still interests me. I didn't study one thing.  I spent the longest amount of time in engineering and the skills that I took from that are absolutely invaluable.  The systems and processes thinking and problem solving curiosity never leave. But all along the way I've been trying to tell stories with new mediums and I'm never going to stop.

I spend a lot of Saturday nights working on silly graphics and production workflows but I know that eventually it's going to give me exactly what I want:

• freedom to work at home in my studio
• a house with an amazing private pool (think Chelsea Handler's pool)
• a new black convertible Porsche (911 Carrera, not a Boxster).

I know, it's the little things in life, right... --But wait. Before you go judging me just remember that I grew up an orphan in a cockroach invested shack in a terrible neighborhood. My grandma used to work her hands to the bone for pennies left from your pizza tables. We lived hand-to-mouth every single day. I'm not sorry for wanting more. I work for it. I'll never quit working for it.

By the way, here's the damn puppet that I worked on forever until one day I just decided I was going to write a script and produce something with it and I just did it! So glad I did.

http://vimeo.com/177238092

Stranger Storytelling

I'm sorry but I really don't get the fascination with Stranger Things. I think it was just an algorithmic assessment of what we should all like and find novel from the 80's slapped together in a terribly shoddy storyline with an obnoxiously screaming Winona Ryder...made by a couple of guys that had only just been born at the time it was set. We didn't say douchebag, we didn't chill in cars, we didn't have cordless phones in poor homes in the Midwest just yet, fellas.  Shame on you, Netflix. Do your research and stop marketing this kind of quasi-storytelling. But smooth move using a Stephen King font and almost making it look like its his name in the intro. Clearly it's working. (For some.)

Now go back and pay rights to Stand By Me, E.T., Stephen King, Stephanie Powers (that mom!?)...the list, I'm sure was generated for you before this even began.

Illustrator Storyboard Template | Free Download

*UPDATED VERSION HERE*

I love finding holes in the internet that I can fill. I searched for an Illustrator template after discovering that is precisely what keeps causing me such huge delays in the design process when moving to After Effects.  In my efficient obsessions, I keep trying to skip that step and then my projects immediately become:

• a tangled web of graphic files that are hard to visualize at one time

• impossible to create a more cohesive style

• hard to reuse elements

Sure I create color schemes and burn through post-its like a monster, but I want to be able to see them all together.  I know others do this and quite well I should add, but I've really been researching the workflow of others as well as my own and realized today that I just keep skipping it...

So this is my new workflow plan:

Workflows-storyboard

Anyway, I decided to make a 1080p video size animation Storyboard Template for Illustrator to force myself into this habit from now on. Thought I'd share.  Maybe someone will find it instead of spending their Saturday night formatting a grid with script notes!

If anyone finds this helpful, I'll be back with an update on using a variation on this workflow to work with Keynote animation projects...soon.

By the way, I put the scripts on one layer and backgrounds and swatches also on their own layers in the template setup so that the export to After Effects or split to their own files will make it all a little cleaner. That is THE goal in this life, right.

Use the Illustrator export "Save as" feature to split the artboards into individual scene files to make animation within After Effects possible (because the damn dynamic link is still 10 years away from dynamic).

Cheers, F

Little Red Riding Hound

I came across an old file recently that really made me laugh. It was all of the original photos and page layouts that I created sometime in high school...???  We had a lot of labradors around at the time and decided that we needed to recreate a story with them, for some bizarre and hilarious reason.  So we dressed them up and used real film to take the story photos we needed.  My sister and cousin were instrumental in wrangling and dressing various dogs and struggling through setups.  MD encouraged me and my weird storytelling need, as usual. So since I found all of the originals and I miss my labradors, I decided to whip them together and learn the basics of Adobe Muse at the same time...because I'm a nerd and that's fun for me. Yeah, here she is:

Little Red Riding Hound

Molly was not your typical Labrador. She was a plus-sized model. Fact.

Viewmaster Remastered (for Download)

I had a crazy idea that I needed a Viewmaster slide for a lil video project. I started digging through our collection because of course, we have quite a collection. Not very surprising really. Anyway, the scanner let me down (bright colors, no texture) so I rigged up a viewmaster slide on a tripod. Took a picture. Composited out all the pieces I needed...and decided to share it, just in case others need it for similar random creative projects.  And as usual, if you use it, I'd love a credit and share the link with me. I love seeing something I've made, in action in other projects:

DOWNLOAD Template PSD and Viewmaster Slide Sound (recorded from a vintage metal viewmaster)

City Museum

My favorite quote lately is Mariela saying:

"I don't workout very often because my gym is halfway across the country."

City Museum in St. Louis is her "favorite place on earth" and absolutely my favorite place in the Midwest.

We met in St. Louis. I went to school there. And I learned about art, history, culture and people by going there often in high school, courtesy of M-Dog. It's a magical place for us.  It was so fun spending the day with M-Dog at "Willy Wonka's Junkyard," recently:

https://vimeo.com/147474347

Pro Tip: Knee pads are a GAME CHANGER.

**All of the images used in this video are taken with our own cameras -- even the Viewmaster slide, which I will share soon for anyone out there needing it for their own weird media projects.

Thanksgivable Thoughts

Last week, I spent the day at a winery, got drunk on the best wine I've ever had— (and I've Christmas'ed at the fucking Ritz. No joke.) ...went to an after (read: pajama) party with hilarious new people, convinced my lady to go to ikea!!! Made it all fit and could still (barely) shift! Had a Bloody Mary brunch in the sun. ("First assholes there.") Life feels amazing...so then why and the hell am I always waiting for the other shoe to drop? Well, November is a time to give thanks, so I'm gonna start a mind dump. You're always a loser if you never celebrate the victories:

• Mariela always believes in me. It doesn't matter what it is—she's there to cheer for me. "She makes me think I can do things that I can't—yet."
• I'm thankful for the life we've built together and for the adventures that always bring us closer, finding our way back, trackin ghosts through the fog...there are no words for our bond.
• The stories! Our stories are our children. "We're married to music." It saves my soul. "In my darkest hour..."
• She sees me in a way that no one else does. She's blind to gender, but loves whatever I am...
• I'm thankful for the way her hair and cleavage catch the light just right...creeper, yes. But I'm a photographer, c'mon that's obvious!
• I really appreciate that she just lets me decorate the shit out of everything...even though it drives her crazy to go to ikea. —She does! Once in a while...
• I'm so lucky that I found The Abbotts. My life has been a remarkable whirlwind since. They'll never know the real opportunities they've afforded me on this journey of trying to grow up. I love seeing them. In all shapes and configurations. Our visit to Chicago included one of the best brunches with the Abbotts. We laughed (mostly at Mariela) until we were sick. They appreciate her almost as much as I do...❤️
• My friends. Both old and new. Where would I be without you? You're the real fighters. The true allegiance. You've been able to stick through it with me, at my worst—only because you make me my best. I feel like I've been on a tour of friends lately and it was such a great ride. Thanks for all the laughs and phenomenal stories and fun (and drinks).
• I'm so grateful to California...accepting us with open arms at a time when we really needed it. That includes some short, but very meaningful, relationships. I'll carry the lessons you taught me. I'll pay forward all the greatness you brought to my life. They were noticed.
• I'm grateful to have a meaningful job that challenges me to keep leaping for the stars. I love startup culture because it challenges me to my very foundation. It's so exciting for someone like me.
• My past and the women that made me strong. You saved my life with your examples of strength and courage.
• The worthless men that showed me how things should be different...and to the few good men that proved it.
• My beautiful amazing dream car...every day when I walk up to that car, I'm thankful. (Even more thankful when the turbocharger kicks in and it whines like a beast!)
• And especially for all the interesting people out here that want to do things differently and that want to see how others are doing it even more differently. I'm so lucky to be here at all...

And that's why, I try myself into the ground. Cuz I don't want to ever let any of you down.

I know I do, but we get through... Thanks for staying on this crazy road.

Mariela still "brings me to my knees." I'm so thankful that she just walked right into my life and refuses to leave. A true rarity in a world of fleeting connections.

Her and Adele just be sayin:

Duke it Out

Everybody calm the fuck down. The Dukes of Hazzard is still on Netflix. Buy the damn DVD's if you think it's such an exemplary collection of American television...I mean, I loved Daisy. Don't get me wrong... She touched my...little dyke heart, too. But seriously. If they didn't want to be pulled, they shouldn't have made their show centered around a car with such a hateful symbol of racism, especially as late in this battle as they did! Southerners need to finally accept that we won the "Battle of Northern Aggression." (People still really talk like this in the south. Ugh.) Or actually, they could hire me to do post-production to every episode. I'd like that...

  

Supreme Decision

I was on my way to a marriage equality rally in DC in 2010. Our bus broke down in Ohio and we had to spend the night at a rest stop with 40 other gays and a man that was friends with Harvey Milk. We missed the rally in DC, but Mariela took a gamble on a candy machine. She said to a friend, "if I get the ring, I'm going to ask her to marry me." She asked me if it ever became legal, would I marry her? I said yes...and within the hour smashed it against the table during an exciting game of boggle (QUEER WED actually rolled on at the same time!)!!! Since then we've been civil unioned, domestic partnered and then finally married by the great state of California. We've been together since college. 14 years. I didn't think this day would happen. Now we can even live in Kentucky! :-/ PRIDE PARTIES NATIONWIDE!!

Gender is queer

  

I've just always been queer...#genderqueer because I was told that I could do anything boys could do. So I did. And I do.

Like...win races, build bicycles, make films, build stuff outta wood, car audio lover, first in a family to graduate college... and even marry a woman. 

Be different. Proudly. Dream biggest.

Tracking

I'm so bored with social media...and I'm completely creeped out that everything is so trackable. I'm also bored with trying to tell stories in only 140 characters. I finally got my Wordpress app working again on the new phone. So I'm going to do another social experiment on myself...don't worry it's similar to the men's ties, but not entirely. I'm going to switch back to my own site, read more and actually DO more. I need to produce more CONTENT and stop talking about it... If I post a picture, I need to cross-post it here. If I have something stupid to say about the world, I'm going to say it here. If I create something for the world, yep it's going here. I want to have a place to see my progress, a place to use some of my own contributions to big data for my goals. That seems reasonable. And hey, my site just turned 8 yrs old! Happy birthday, Gurl.

I always say that...

"I'm back!" I always say that when I start blogging again. The fact is that I just haven't had time to even update my Wordpress apps and sites in so long. But the numbers say that people are still coming here. Probably just thousands of former frenemies but that's okay too. It's better than Facebook... Speaking of, the new Facebook privacy invasion makes me wanna delete my account entirely. Just like this guy:

Delete your Facebook

Every time I've added people on Facebook we become more distant. It's weird. It's just changing our society so quickly that I just can't... Maybe people just feel weird that I'm open publicly while they think a password site makes all the difference? I've spent so much of my life hiding (even in real closets) to think that I should hide now. Maybe you're hiding because you have so much to hide. That's okay. I know how it feels. But I'm gonna be who I am with you if I know you...and I'm gonna be that same person to everyone I know. That's what makes me—well me. You should try it. Not the being me part, but being you.

Maybe people hate my posts because they think that me sharing my crazy life is bragging. But I'm just as surprised with my daily stunts as you are! And I think constant pictures of your kids would certainly run head-to-head with that idea. I can't have kids. Sometimes I'm not sure if that's a blessing because I work my fucking ass off and I haven't given up on my own goals and dreams...which I share. But I also share my setbacks and believe you me--it often feels like I have more of them than successes! And I enjoy your posts about your kids...I'm happy that you have the life you want and I want to be apart of that...even if it's a dumb thumbs up icon. But I say, let's take it to the next step...real life. Let's send pictures again and talk on the phone. I promise not to scream.

But if we've had weird relationships in the past, exes and the like...I don't wanna be friends. I'm sorry but I'm not that kinda lesbian. I don't think I'm a lesbian at all, to be quite honest. But that's another post.

Now I'm working on a new site, a CopyCatFilms sister site...but Drupal is just too stupid for me. I'm a wordpress lover all the way. Kill that install. Start over. I even paid good money for that damn layout, but sometimes you gotta know when to fold'em...I love a reason to quote Kenny Rogers. It makes me feel closer to Dolly. (And who wouldn't want that?)

So I'm also packin for a trip to Illinois. Flying right under that Gateway to the West! My camera has been hacked with Magic Lantern and I'm going on a crash course of learning to use it. I cannot wait...

Kitty does not want me to leave.

Morty Misses, too

Our cat is intolerant of new situations. Strange for a cat that recently handled a cross-country trek of over 2,300 miles. Sadly, he lost his best friend right before the big trek across country.  I know he misses Ninga... But the truth is...I can't get over missing Ninga yet, either. When I think of how abruptly he left us, on the eve of our move from Chicago, it just floods me. It was really just... a lot for me, at the time. He's been a part of my life for 14 years...it was just supposed to be a check-up visit.

How can we go it without him? --I blubbered into every box as we packed ALL night.  This big journey into the unknown... He's the protector in our house. He's the fighter. He'd save you from a burning microwave, and swat a piece of pizza from your hand without hesitation. He went to a top 25 school and ate pizza out of party boxes.  He'd leer over you, standing from the top of a door--making you think he'd pounce on your head or at least break a leg getting down. But beware--cuz if you'd reach to try to help him down, he'd rip holes in your arm--like a sheet on a clothesline--on his way to the floor, while hissing like a tiger.  He'd get mad if you'd cry.  And he would practically clean his own cat box.  Funny looking with big, tall, back legs and spots like a dairy cow.

I miss you more than I could have imagined.  Surprising, since you were always such an asshole!  I would have done anything to save you. I know when you reached your paw up on my arm and laid your head to sleep for the last time--you knew that.  And I'm sure you were pissed that I was crying.  Thank you for forcing me to grow up and hanging on along the way, Ninga.

Morty is missing you terribly. Not only for the company, but always letting him know what's right. You gave him only the good sides of you, like a good father. He goes out on the new balcony, unsure of the new textures, scenery, and railing. He's scared of the boundaries. You showed him how to be a cat. He still waits for you.

I hope you know how much you meant to my silly life. I had no idea how much you meant to Morty's.  We're trying to move on and keep him happy. He had a playdate with a nice cat. His response was...rather pissy.

Cat Facts

So, I know that Mariela found "Cat Facts" by some means of her Internet dorkiness, but she really has taken it to a whole 'nother level. It all started when we moved to California and immediately needed to change both of our phone numbers over to local numbers.  We put it on Facebook, but who reads that, right?  So it began...no one knew the numbers we were texting from.  So we turned it into a little game--each new contestant added on new sections, visuals...and now--well, I couldn't be prouder of Cat Facts.

*Please note: the misspellings below are intentional and necessary.

The gist is that--immediately upon receiving a "who's this" text--you start responding with random Cat Facts and photos...set a timer--send them every hour on the hour (for contestants that are upgraded to Cat Facts Premium):

Thanks for signing up for Cat Facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about CATS!  >^..^<

Cats use their tails for balance and have nearly 30 individual bones in them! <To cancel Daily Cat Facts, reply 'cancel'>.

(after receiving reply):

Command not recognized. You have a <year> subscription to Cat Facts and will receive fun <hourly> updates!

In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death. Thank you for choosing Cat Facts!

(after next reply):

Command not recognized. Cats bury their feces to cover their trails from predators.  To <cancel> please let us know you are human by completing the following sentence: Your favorite animal is the ___?

(reply anything other than "Cat"):

INCORRECT! Your favorite animal is the Cat. You will continue to receive cat facts every <hour>. Would you like to upgrade to premium subscription?

(if reply is "Cat")

CORRECT! Your favorite animal is the cat! Congrats, you've been upgraded to Cat Facts  Premium with Cat Pics!

Welcome to Cat Facts Premium: Did you know that the first cat show was held in 1871 at the Crystal Palace in London. Mee-wow!

(after reply):

Thanks for texting Cat Facts (Premium). Would you like to receive an instant Cat Fact with cat pic every time you text? <To cancel, reply 'unsubsribe">

<Command Not recognized> Did you know there are about 100 distinct breeds of domestic cat?

(after reply)

Thank you for your feedback about Cat Facts. Did you know cats have excellent senses including night vision and the ability to hear ultrasound?  <To Cancel Reply "Not Meow">

(only after they reply "not meow"):

<command not recognized>