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I felt it was about time to get the Robot Amy video off my front page, so its time for a journal update.

Nothing amazing has really happened in my life recently. Its basically been a mixture between uni work, chilling out and bashing my head against a desk. A couple of my projects (including my current robot task) haven't been going completely to plan so the stress is starting to build up a little. This isn't helped by the fact everyone is starting to poke me about applying for jobs for after i graduate, which is the last thing i'm thinking about 9 months in advance.

My mood also hasn't been helped by the fact i've been caught up in some dArama on dA, but hopefully we are past the worst and both parties can learn to ignore the other. Just a shame it took them a few weeks to figure out that's the best plan. Also, as you can probably tell i've been doing a little more art recently which i've enjoyed. In a sense its been fun going back to the art side of dA instead of always focussing on the community.

In other news, i bought 2 more rubik's cubes/twisty puzzles for my collection this week and can't wait to head home for a weekend to collect them, along with another awesome parcel i know is waiting there for me



Anyways, copying the idea from Krissi i've decided to launch an 'ask me anything' journal to give you guys the chance to get to know me me better, or just ask a question you think would be fun. I look forward to seeing what you guys have to say, so just leave a comment below

Baked potato or roast beef sammich?
I can't say either is my favourite sort of food. probably roast beef sandwich.

How did you get started with emoticons, how did it all begin ?
At the time i spent a lot of my free time on dAmn, and amongst my group of friends we were always saying 'wouldn't it be great if there was a .... emote?'. I decided one day to actually try making one of these emotes and it just all grew from there.

Ice Cream or Coffee ?
Ice cream. i've never been a fan of coffee. Now tea .... that's another matter.

What are some of your favorite foods?
Beef jerky Roast gammon and french fancies cakes

how did you get so involved in the emote community?
I felt there was a lack of communication between emoticonists and gap in the community for a news article, so i set up my article So i herd u liek emotes?? From there i went on to start a number of groups and run a few events and it all grew from there

what color is imagination?
I don't see it as a single colour, more a rainbow of colours such as in:


Do you like anime?
Can't say i'm a fan. But i've never really watched any.

If you were to meet anyone (non-fictional who is alive or once lived) that you haven't already met and tell them one thing (a question, comment, etc.), who would it be and what would you say?
This is a really tough one. I'd probably pick someone like Emma Waston and just ask her to talk about her experience working on the Harry Potter films. Either that or someone like Dick Winters from Band of Brothers and just ask him to talk more in depth about his experiences in WW2.

Can you name one thing that made or will make you cry when receiving it and made or will make you cry when losing it? (This thing may be anything, anywhere, or anyone.)
I can't remember ever crying when i've received an object, but i know there will be quite a few i'd cry over if i lost. My cat Jim and my childhood toy Simba are 2 that spring to mind.

Favorite PVZ plant?
Probably sounds boring, but the wall-nut. Its highly useful and slightly cute too.

How did you come up with the idea for your OC? And if so, would you ever change your OC?
Syn was actually drawn on the back of my school english book as the 'O' in the logo 'ESPO' was calling out to be made into an emote. At the time the craze was to add angel and devil features to a heart, but i decided to do it to an emote instead and Syn was born. He later lost all of his angel features and his tail just because as an inexperienced emoter i couldn't draw them. You can see my first fully pixelled Syn below:



I doubt i would ever change my OC. I invented him way over a year before i actually started emoting and have always used him in my avatar. He just seems like a part of myself on dA so i could only get rid of him if i changed accounts (and i doubt that will happen).

What's your favourite song?
I'm one of those people that chop and change my favourite song quite regularly. So i'm going to cheat and name five of my top songs:

Let Go - by Frou Frou
Diary of Jane (Acoustic) - by Breaking Benjamin
Protectors of the Earth - by Two Steps From Hell
Breaking the Habit - by Linkin Park
Her name is Alice - by Shinedown

Why are you so awesome? And, how do you do it?
I don't think i'm any more awesome than anyone else in the community.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
42

How much time does it take you to solve a simple 3*3*3 rubik's cube?
I can't say i've really timed myself before, so i downloaded an app and did 5 solves. My best was 1 min 51 sec, my worst was 2 min 11 sec and my average 1 min 59 sec.

What's your favorite color?
Blue. More specifically, the same blue as Syn

What was your favorite school subject?
Probably maths. Though i've now forgot so much of it i'm actually really bad at maths

Are you aware that you've already made a similar journal?
Similar, but different at the same time. The previous one was more focussed on me finding more about my watchers

Would you rather receive a long hug from a good friend but only get to spend a few minutes with them, or get no hug but spend a lot of time with them?
Probably a long time instead of the hug. Hugs are nice an all, but don't make up for say another hour of talking with a person.

What kind of soda is your fav?
Mountain dew (when i can get the real american stuff) or anything cherry based - cherry coke, cherry pepsi, cherry 7up, cherryade

French Fries or Hamburger?
Hamburger, though a cheeseburger would be better

How do you make your emotes? Like, with what program?
I use a slightly odd 2 program system. I make each frame in Paint Shop Pro 12 and then save it as a separate image. I then animate the individual frames together using Ulead Gif Animator 5. I wouldn't really recommend it since its tedious to make edits, but it does work.

Any advice for new emoters?
There are a few hints and tips i have:

1) Don't worry if your first emotes doesn't look great. Thats true of many emoticonists and true of any skill, practice makes perfect
2) If you like a specific effect in an emote, download it and open it up in your program for a closer look. Its not cheating, but you can learn a hell of a lot from past emoticonists this way
3) Don't be afraid of asking experienced emoticonists for advice or to check over a specific emote. Most of us (including me) are more than willing to comment, just make sure you ask in a polite way. For example "Could you check out this emote [link] and offer some opinions" is great "yo, check out my gallery" is likely to get less of a response

A grandma is crossing the road, but an incoming garbage truck tripped on a banana and flipped upside down. How are going to eat your potato chips?
Sitting on the sofa, watching tv