Since I need to come up with some screen-printing designs for our little burgeoning artist collective I decided to google image search “vintage control panels” for inspiration.  I ultimately want to use these components to create an imaginary 1950’s modular synth.  Some kind of modular that never existed but you wish it did.  I made these in Inkscape but they were most definitely not freehand.  I actually didn’t use the tablet at all.  It was created using a lot of primitive shapes and the union command.  I really dig the way they look though.
 
 
 
 
In other news:  This is Day 180!  I really can’t believe I’m only halfway there.  I guess the real halfway point is in 2 1/2 days but I sort of feel like Day 180 signifies it for me.  If the year were a circle and days were degrees then I would be halfway there (and if you think about it it’s not so far from the truth).  
 
Anyways, I feel like I have done so much in the past 180 days that it’s still quite daunting to think that I have 180 days more.  Even after so much time I still get intimidated by the fact that I have to come up with something everyday.  Sometimes the last minute decision can become one of my most popular posts.  I find the most satisfaction though from doing something that is not a part of my normal practice.  Still to this day, my favorite post has to be Day 103 / The Fruitiest William Tell.  It was something so random that I decided to do at the last minute and it came out so good that I felt great for the rest of the week.
 
I can already feel that I have become a different person than the person that started this blog.  My mind has been completely opened by this process.  I’m confident now that whatever creative thing I put my mind to I know I can actually achieve.  And perhaps most importantly, I am actually WILLING to do them.  I want to extend a ginormous “THANK YOU” to everyone who has been supportive of me through this process.  My wife Jenny for one puts up with a lot of late nights.  All of those that have commented with words of encouragement, I want to say that I appreciate it.  The moment I found out that others found this blog even somewhat inspiring to them I was hooked.  The kind words have motivated me more and more to produce things that are new and different.  I’m not sure what I will create in the next 180 days but I hope its more of the same.  I hope I can get myself involved in more things that I never thought I would do.
 
I figure I should update you all on my non-smoking progress since this blog was started initially as a way to vent the withdrawals.  As of now I have been a non-smoker for approximately 2 months.  I can’t remember the exact day that was my last cigarette because for awhile there I was buying a pack, smoking one cigarette and then throwing the pack away.  I am still chewing the nicorette unfortunately but I have finally set a date to quit the gum.  I will be quitting the gum on Sept 17th.  I find that it’s easier to quit a habit when I have the date weighing on my mind for awhile.  I have already proven to myself that I can’t just quit something tomorrow.
 
Has the blog helped me to quit?  Yes and no.  In the beginning, it actually did help me keep my mind off of wanting to smoke.  Instead, I thought about what creative thing I’d do when I got home.  And that worked for about 50 days.  Then I cheated and suddenly the blog became one thing and the smoking another.  How the blog helps me today though is it serves as a reminder that I can do anything I put my mind to and that includes quitting smoking.  The quitting still is the hardest thing I have ever done.
 
Oh and one last thing.  Last night I finally posted the Instructable for my Retro Modern Wireless Speakers.  It took me awhile to get it done but now you can find it here.
 
OK, so this post is getting long now.  Thank you all so much for reading.
 
all the best,
 
Charlie