Me at work.

I work harder than it looks.

If I were a carpenter..

I'm getting better, I can stand and sit on this thing now!

Week 1 of Crunch! ..oh wait.. it's only Friday

Well, the week's gone by fast despite the 55 hours. It's not so bad, we're in a bigger space and going to the bathroom is twice as long, getting a vitamin water is about three times as long. I also get to dodge scooters and mini bicycles that race down the hallway. It's so surreal watching your manager pedal down the hallway on a tiny bike. It's like a bad dream.

Anyway, the workload has been immense but normally I just sit down, shut up and finish things quick so I can spend the rest of the day walking around the office conversing with people.

Oh, strange story. There was a moldy cupcake floating around work. I looked at it, and it wasn't that moldy. I took a bite and it was fine, they were like, tiny little flakes on top that could be brushed off, anyway, I ate it and my coworker said "Oh wow! You ate it? Here's 50 bucks, we were daring someone to eat it!" so that's an added bonus. Feeling bad on spending the money on myself, I bought nerf guns with the money and pocketed the rest.

Work will be fun + 1.

Crunch: Day 1

Well, I know I've stayed at work for over 11 hours some times but this day was different.

Today marked the first day of crunch, where we try to get the game as clean as possible. We moved offices so we had some difficulty with everything. I couldn't start working until it was noon, but regardless I got my tasks done.

Tomorrow I'll have some more fun with it since I won't be frustrated, even though today, during downtime, I made a pillow out of some bubble wrap, which I think is productive.

We moved a block away and the office I'm in has the most free space. Which I intend to flaunt by putting in a kiddie pool and filling it with styrofoam packing peanuts. I hope they'll let me, because I think that's a great idea.

Anyway, I just got home and it's 10. I think I'm gonna go to bed now, there's really nothing else I can say because of my contract, other than Rock Band will change your life.

Crunch Reinstated

Well, this past few weekends I've been attending a Karaoke Club in downtown Boston, doing my best, but I'm trying to relax before MANDATORY CRUNCH. Before I was just sticking around for a few hours because I wasn't needed, but now the 63 hour weeks commence.

After singing my renditions of KISS and Zepp, I think I've officially prepared myself for the long road ahead. 4 Weeks of Crunchtime and 2 Student Loans, hurrah..

Student Loans = Bleh..

1 Payment done...

179 to go...

Your skill in cardboard carpentry has increased to 1.

Another Responsibility!

Hey they let me blog at work now! Check out www.rockband.com I posted today, thursday, I'm now posting every tuesday!

Monday Madness

So.. this is what happened monday morning, it was hilarious.

I go to the elevator to head to the bank real quick to get some pocket money, and when the door opens I see some old guy, swaying, and on his knees, bracing himself against the elevator wall. I watch him for a bit, and get out of his way as he seems to stagger out into the lobby of Harmonix.

I walk past him and enter the elevator car and notice the smell of listerine.. I watch the guy crawl into the lobby as the doors close.

I come back in and see one of my coworkers and he holds the elevator door for me and says "Brace yourself dude.." I go: "Why?" and he says "There's some guy in the lobby trashed off listerine"

I was all "Oh.. no.."

I come and notice a gathering of coworkers staring at the guy sitting on the couch with about half of his composure intact.

Seems that there's a church on the 12th floor and that's where he was headed, however someone let him onto our floor.. :D

Long story short, they called the ambulance and the guy got whisked back to safety, and I never told anyone that I let that guy in, until later in the afternoon the group of animators were talking "Hey did you hear about that drunk guy, Leo?"

and I replied "Yeah, I let him in."

I got a real bed today!

Yeah! No more air mattress.. although I was getting used to it, I got a real bed now! YEAH!

..that is all.

Clambaked!

Well, I just got back from clambake, and it was exquisite. We each got a whole lobster (I didn't take a pic.. too busy eating) A cup of chaowdah! (it's spelt that way over here) corn on the cob, steamed littleneck clams and black mussels. HOLY CRAP it was good. I'll remember to take some pics of the food next time. The lobsters were huge too.

So, they shipped us over to George's Island home of an old fort and some other stuff, went exploring in pitch black tunnels and all that, other than the food, I don't remember much. I couldn't sleep last night and but I eventually went to bed at 3AM to get up at 8. Which I know, for a normal person seems perfectly fine, but not for me. Anyways, I was awake enough to take a few pics.

I ran up to the atlantic ocean and slapped it and yelled out "TAG" and with my arms raised triumphantly I ran through my coworkers' volleyball game in heated passion.


Boston from the boat.


It looks like I'm composited in, but luckily, you all know my compositing skills suck.

It was a fun day, and I lay here, tired as hell, so I'm gonna go to bed. I missed work on thursday so I have to make up time tomorrow, hurrah.

Two Day Post!

Well, Sunday I went to Boston, bought a camera and some clothes, spent a bit of money, and I bought some shirts off the internet. Soo.. I can't buy anything except food right now. It's like college!

My friend and I went to downtown Boston and we went shopping, so I actually got to explore the city. It looks amazing. The crazy people here are a lot more noisy than those in SF, there was this dude yelling down the streets about Jesus and pointing at people saying that they'll go to hell. I think some skinheads beat him up cause when I left Borders, I couldn't hear him anymore.

Anyway today at work was lame. I sat around and basically did nothing, but don't tell my boss, I don't think I'm getting burnt out, but it's hard to say. I think I'm just tired skinning hair, so I left work without doing my work, however my boss did talk to me and he said he understood that they put on alot of stuff on me, which is good, however I did the stupid thing in saying "I'll do it all." :D

Actually, I did do something, I taught one of the senior artists how the physics system works, so I guess that's more than what I normally do, so, you know what? I did have a productive day.

Well, that's it for me, see ya!

Mmm.. Crunch-y

Crunch Time! It's heatedly approaching! Next week will be the beginning of crunch. For those that haven't heard of crunch, it's basically when everyone stops procrastinating and starts getting asses in gear. For me, that means 11 hour work days and 8 hour saturdays. Wowee! And since I'm in charge of physics, collision, and real time deformation set up.. I'm going to be fixing a whole assload of bugs! Wahoo!

Well, if you don't see or hear from me for a while, this is the reason why, hooray! Oh! Friday I get to have my first clambake. We're going to be sent off on a boat to some island and do it, what does nature have in store for me? Tune in!

With Great Power, Comes Great... ...line?

Well, today was freak out day. You know when you stand in the middle of an empty street, and you see like 50 motorcycles come at you and the drivers weilding swords and stuff, and they're going at you in breakneck speed, so you freeze up for a moment and soil yourself, before you run? Today was like that.

Well, that and getting reprimanded for stuff that didn't work, ugh! It was a nightmare.

However, I saw only light at the end of the tunnel. The fact that I was the sole person being blamed let me know my responsibilities have actually grown, and being part of the whirlwind of hectic work let me know I was part of the team. Wow!

Well, I stayed late and I got my work done.. I'm sleepy, I can't wait to get back to California.

The weather sucks..

It's 12 AM.. and it's 80 degrees and humid.. what.. the.. hell. I hate New England, I like Old England better. It wouldn't be bad if this were the Philippines, because I could go outside and get bootleg movies and dried mangoes. This is crap. Everything closes early (Not like I'm gonna go leave the house or anything..) And.. this sucks. Boo!

Ok, I'm over it.. yay Boston?

Yay! I'm important!

Well, right now, I think I'm solely in charge of physics in Rock Band. So.. when you guys play, you can go look at the hair and clothing dynamics and how they're set up, and you can say "I know that guy that did that!" "OMG I WENT TO SKOOL WITH THAT DOOD!" I'm also in charge of real time deformers in game too. But that's just boring.

I was sitting in a character meeting with two senior artists and they were asking me how physics works and if "such and such" is possible. I felt important. I think I found a niche in the crowd, what confirms it is that I'm mentioned on the website! go to http://www.rockband.com click on the paper tear outs and there is a blog post about me missing work on thursday to wait for packages! I've made it! Wahoozle!

So.. when are you guys gonna come over and work here?

Boo UPS

So, I have been ordering things from amazon to make life a lot easier and more fun for myself. Now.. I ordered some stuff and received a 1st, and 2nd notice from UPS, with a checkbox next to "MUST HAVE SIGNATURE IN PERSON" so I was like "crap.." so I told my work that I'd be waiting for a package, and I'll get in when it comes in if it isn't too late. Now.. I wait, and no rings at the door, so I go downstairs and find my packages near the door. It is now 5:00PM. I could have gone to work today, but nooo.. UPS had to be a dick and just be all "We need your sig-- GOTCHA! HOHOHOWEHOHWOAH!"

I hate UPS.

Haven't wrote here in a while.

Another boring weekend.. I really need to go explore the city, which I probably will today, or next week. But Monday it looks like I'm getting a tour.. so, hopefully that will go by well. As for things to report.. nothing.. blah, nothing at all.. trying to sleep through the days but I can only sleep for so long.. haven't met anyone new.. or anything like that.. seems to be a good ol boring day on the east coast.

I'm a New Englander!

Well, as I was taking the subway to work, I walked over to the small restaurant and ordered a calzone, stepped out to pick up my laundry and went back to get my food. As I walked down the street with my laundry in one hand and food in the other, it occurred to me.. I'm now a regular resident of the Jamaica Plain area, and even more, Massachusetts. I'm a functioning member of society that paid his taxes, and uses services around him to survive in this state. WOW, MIND BLOWING

Anyway, work is, work, and that's pretty much all it is, that and FUN. The monotony is setting in, however, as a workaholic, I keep going.

I met a friend here recently, she's from San Diego and we talk alot about California and how she misses it. I do too, but I can't let that bug me now, I'm waiting a month before I start getting homesick.

It's now been 20 days since I started work, and I guess you could say I haven't changed that much, no accent yet, but I'm trying. Well, hope to see you guys soon in the near future, til then, take care!

Hell of a Day

Well, I get on the subway with my paper, and start doing the crossword. I try to complete it before entering the office, and I did but forgot one word. Then I saw my coworker and he asked me how it was going and I said "I didn't finish the puzzle! UGGH WHAT A DAY!" he laughed and mentioned that the day hasn't even started.. which I knew..

I sit at my desk and check out "ERROR!"

I shrug it off because the errors I had to fix before were easy, then I saw:

"LOCATED 221 ERRORS YOU ARE SUSPECT OF"

Well this is much different than my usual 2 or 3.

I spent most of the day and didn't take a lunch trying to fix these, and the coder was on my case for not reporting bugs, but I told him that I'm trying to fix these errors as fast as I can. I think he thought that me and my co-worker and supe were helping me, however I did them all. I got in at 9, and by 3, everything was all gravy. Just in time to make a deadline. So, naturally I spent most of the day screwing around, because if I compress my day, I spend about 3 hours of it doing nothing.

Oh, and I found out that piece of mail that's been sitting in my backpack for all these days wasn't a pay stub, it was my actual paycheck.. so.. good game, thank god I didn't throw it away.

I'm a regular employee now.

Well, I'm no longer the new guy as new people keep coming in. Today, I integrated assets like a beast. They gave me 7 to do for the week, and I finished 5 of them. Luckily they don't have anymore so they won't be tossing any more at me.

Anyways, it's was a ho-hum day, but I was greeted by.. MY FIRST PAYCHECK! WAHOOZLE! I can see why some people don't stay unemployed. It's because you get money, and you can only watch Cheaters for so long without getting bored.

Well.. that's all I got people, gonna go play Earth Defense Force '07. My roommate picked it up, it's such a low-budget game.. but god damn is it fun.

Los Bendecidos

Down the street is this place called Los Bendecidos. Which is not a mexican restaurant.. but a Spanish one.

Now, what does that entail? First off there's pizza, calzones, chicken fingers and fries and all that which is perfect, but there's some rustic family style spanish food there.

Rice, fried pork chops, fried chicken, empanadas, cicharron, fried bananas. You filipinos know what I'm talkin about.

What a suiting place. A Spanish restaurant located in Boston, for a whitewashed filipino.

AWESOME!

Staying late!

Wow, thanks to my little escapade last night, I realize I don't have to rush home after work. I just got home and wow, this place is harmless, it's just like those plastic scissors you got in kindergarten.

I know the minute I step out now, I'm gonna get shanked, but oh well. Work.. was.. well.. work.. I'm slowly getting used to living here.. the only thing that sucks is that my room isn't furnished.. so.. I'll probably have to do something about that..

I walked 5 miles for a Green Tea Frap.

So, it's 10pm. I swore I'd never go out at night, since I heard that the area is bad at night, but PSSH! It's peaceful compared to Richmond. A friggin school play yard full of rabbits and retarded kids. Anycrap. I met another friend on Craigslist, that didn't turn up to be a dude. Anywho, she works over at a Starbucks and said I'd get a free drink if I visit her.

Everyone who knows me knows that... I got lost. Ended up walking all over Harvard.. down the wrong way of Massachusetts Ave. Which I think runs along a good portion of the state. I get my drink at 11, after leaving at 9.

Harvard is nice at night, and it's really really boring. I didn't have to run from anything, lame..

So anyway.. I hop back on the train at 11:30 and make it before they shut down the T (the name of the subway system). And headed to Jamaica Plain (Boston's version of Oakland) There was no one around! Where are the crackheads that come out at night? No pipes on the floor, I saw pens. PENS GODDAMNIT.. Broken pens in the gutter. So.. I walked home without a hitch, and a fistful of pens I can use at work.

So.. here I lay.. in bed, writing this blog, work in 9 hours, and I'm not tired.. just sweaty from all that hardcore walking.

To summarize. Harvard is nice, and I can walk the streets at night. Just as long as I have my dirty black hoodie which I now dub the "Does it look like I have money, motherfucker?" jacket.

I left early!

Ok, so I show up at work early, and I normally leave at six.. so I leave at four.. and I keep track of my hours for Ex'ternship, and I noticed I was still in the office for 9 hours. I'm working to hard, I gotta slow down or else I'll get burnt out. It's not even crunch time yet, what's up with that?

Today.. (I was gonna type what I did but not sure if I'm allowed to say) ..and it was fun! Seriously guys, get this game.. and tell all your friends to get it... so I get paid. :P

Anyways, I'm hungry, so I'm gonna go to Dunkin Donuts. If you don't know, they're everywhere around here.. sucks balls.

Today was bleh..

I spent most of one day on one thing, it made me feel like crap since I do stuff fast, but I couldn't focus today, it's probably because my mind is somewhere else. Well, today was fruit salad day and it didn't make me work any better, but bleh, I'll show up tomorrow and start kicking ass again. HARD.

Assimilating.

Wow, today was a regular day at the office. I'm actually having those now. The walk is nothing, and the subway is a breeze.. actually a bad breeze.. on the way home it was packed and it smelled like feet.

At work, I broke the game. But luckily, I fixed it, and everything seems to be going well now. I have a big list of shit that I have to do, alot of it is skinning and bone placement. Wahoo skinning and bone placement!

Another weird thing I saw, I saw a mini-parade down the streets.. and I was told that it was protesters.. damn, protesters here are creative and clever!

Anyways, off I retire for another night, I still haven't explored Boston yet, but I probably will this weekend, see you guys later.

Wow, It escalated rather quickly.

Holy crap, today was my first real day, I'd like to think. I was thrown into the evil pipeline. I had to navigate through it and all that crap, it was awful! But I got the ish done.

It was 11AM and my brain was not functioning without sugar, when I was told to do this and that and this and that..

And another landmark of work, I officially rigged! YES! RIGGA! Soo, I'm proud of myself, yet tired all at the same time.

I noticed my walk felt like 30 seconds and the subway ride was more of an escalator ride. I think I'm getting used to this New England crap.

As for the weather.. it's cold one day, warm and humid the next, raining.. it's like a broken slot machine when it comes to the climate..

Oh, btw, my work is across the street from Wendy's... life is good.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Nothing's going on.. blah..

Boston Area = Bay Area

Ok, I figured it out, here we go:

I live in:
Jamaica Plain - Heavily diverse ethnic city southwest of Boston. Known to be a bit shady and I heard it was called "Poor Man's Cambridge"
-California Equivalent: Oakland.

I work in:
Cambridge - College town, bustling with college brats, trendy shops, cafes and restaurants.
-California Equivalent: Berkeley

The big City:
Boston - Huge cultural population, expensive housing, high property value, complete with bars, nightlife, fancy hotels, the works.
-California Equivalent: San Francisco.

THE RESEMBLANCE IS UNCANNY.

The Mundane Not Quite Setting In...

Well, 4 bucks left on my subway card, I see that 20 bucks will last me a week. Today I sat in my first meeting and my first company lunch. Thai food! Wahoo! Well, nothing new occured, other than the fact that I realized I don't have to come in on Saturday. Asking my boss if I should anyway, he said "No. Just stay home, and practice holding your breath or something.. on monday I'll time you."

I was given some work today, and finished it, and spent the last hour of work staring at the ceiling and spinning in my chair. Learning 3DS Max is easy once you know Maya, in case you guys are worried. Well, at least skinning is. The tools that you can get for skinning are far superior to Maya's default weight stuff :T

I asked about jobs and stuff, and they're looking for interns and maybe another tech artist.. soo.. if you guys are interested in skinning.. heh.. I had to throw out a bunch of rigging and skinning terms for my interview.. just to give you guys a heads up.

So.. that's about it, got a guitar hero shirt, and going to get a rock band shirt later on. Damn, this place really is sweet. The walks are feeling alot shorter, and the subway trips feel instantaneous.

Peace and chicken grease,
-Leo

Day 2, Electric Bugaloo.

Once again, another day of skinning. It made me feel good when my supe walked over to see the facial rigs I've skinned and the first word he said was "amazing." I worked with one of the new tech artists today and he actually came to me for guidance. I know it's inflating my ego, but it feels good to get compliments like that on your 2nd day of work. (Well, technically 3rd, but day 1 was orientation.)

Oh, and I got to play the game itself, and let me tell you.. it will revolutionize the way you think, feel, act, and love. It's like.. Wyld Stallyns from Bill & Ted status.

I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about more perks, but seriously, you guys need to get your asses to Harmonix.. and QUICK.

Wish you were (all) here.
-Leo

Leo's Bloggachusetts! The Baptism of a Beast!

Hey everyone! This is a way I guess I can keep everyone posted on what the hell I'm doing here, and make sure everyone knows that I'm not on the FBI Witness Protection Program.

Well today was my first trial by fire, so to speak, where I skinned some shit. I'm not supposed to talk about alot of stuff, but I'll let you know as much as I am legally allowed to tell you, which is nothing. :(

Anycrap, I got in yesterday, met my roommate who's a cool guy, he's like Scott Hale, but cooler.

Today, I got a present. We each got a copy of Guitar Hero II for the X-Box 360. So, Kenny, I guess you're off the hook. By the way, where's my Guitar Hero? Ahh f you. Anyways.. It's raining like shit right now and I had to walk home in the rain, which was refreshing from yesterday's warm and humid weather.

Anyway, I'll leave it at that. I'll talk to you guys later. Don't wanna give everything away on the first post.