Well what do you know, another year is almost over, and what a year it was! Here's a not so brief look at what 2010 was like for me.
The top #1 absolute highlight of the year ever in the world:
Stacey! <3
The MCM Expos (May and October)!
Seeing as MCM Expo was in a way the first time me and Stacey met for longer than a few minutes back in October 2009, I guess you could say this convention holds a bit of a special place for me now. Of course it also helps that Stacey finally got to do something she's always wanted to and dress up as her favorite Rayman character (and another one for good measure!) and the cosplaying really is the highlight of the place after all; to be fair the stands, shops etc are just the trimming that doesn't really change all that much each visit. A shame I didn't get around to do any cosplaying myself as much as i would of liked to, mainly because I couldn't get the bits I needed like a big collared shirt to complete a Harry Hill outfit. Still, fun times were had!
Alton Towers!
Been a while since I've had a holiday of any kind, so a long weekend at Alton Towers with my parents and Stacey was great fun because it was both a theme park and an area of the UK I've never been to before. It wasn't what I expected in a good way: the park is within the most beautiful forests and grounds I've seen in ages, nothing artificial about it. The hotel was also quite nice, though not perfect but for the money it did it's job. Oh, and there was a Sonic ride there, so that's a bonus. Speaking of Sonic...
Summer of Sonic!
Much bigger than last year and just as fun, though the location wasn't the best mainly because it was so hot in there. Still, they really pulled out all the stocks despite everything, and even Stacey who isn't really a Sonic fan as such enjoyed it too. It was an exhausting, exhilarating day and I really can not wait to see what they do for next year! All my articles and videos about the event were over at Sega Memories.
I'll be honest, I didn't get as much animation done this this as I would of liked. There was the Southend festival Ident in March that went down a real treat and the jelly Christmas card in November but there was next to nothing in between that. I guess I kind of lost the spark for it for most of this year. No matter, because at least my..
Illustrating:
..was really quite active and buzzing this year. The last few years I had been really slacking in this department but not in 2010; I started off the Animals Packing Heat series and generally had a lot of fun drawing mostly non fan-art related things including some blog comics and other bits and bobs, so certainly a lot of fresh portfolio material.
Blogging:
Quite a good year for blogging here on my personal one, with more posts than the last few years, though many of those were rather quick short posts and there was two months when I didn't post anything here . A bit slacking on Sega Memories and the Dreamcast Junkyard but luckily they didn't go dormant thanks to Barry and the other DCJY bloggers. Mind you, I did do quite a lot of Summer of Sonic coverage and kept mostly up to date with the Dreamcast announcements so that's something.
Gaming:
2010 was all about retro revivals and lots of short fun downloadable games. I've never really been into long dragged out games but there were so many great arcade style games this year I was rarely without something to look forward to. I think my Playstation 3 got the most use this year, though I also spent a lot of time with the Wii and Dreamcast too and a bit of DS (mainly for Peggle lol).
One highlight was watching Stacey create her own little games and music in Wario Ware DIY. I only recently got around to grabbing that game so I haven't made any myself yet but I'd like to if I get time. Overall favorites released this year were: Tatsunoko vs Capcom, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, After Burner Climax, Joe Danger, Space Invaders Infinity Genre, and Sonic Colours. Still a couple to catch up on too! Worst game I played all year? Probably Raving Rabbids Travel in Time: even at £10 I felt ripped off, and I enjoyed the previous games. Couldn't of got rid of it faster.
Cinema-going:
It always helps to have someone to go with to a cinema so that's another area where being with Stacey meant I went out to the cinema far more than I have in previous years. We saw The Princess and the Frog, How to Train your Dragon, Toy Story 3, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World and I believe that was it.
Would have also loved to have gone to see The Illusionist, A Town Called Panic and Mary and Max but the only way to have seen them would of been at the very few screenings they got in parts of London so we missed out. Oh well, I will catch them on DVD (already have in the case of Panic). Would also go see Tron Legacy but I don't wanna bore Stacey with it and don't really wanna go on my own.
Some disappointments:
Still not being able to land a job was the lowest part of the year I guess. I did a course up in London for a bulk of the year which helped out a lot and got me two work experience placements which went well, but other than offers for freelance work with no pay I haven't had much luck in this department.
Another disappointment was probably the Web + Mini Comix Thing, which I probably expected too much from but it did feel like I put a lot of work and effort in only to sit at a table with barely anyone even looking all day. I thought maybe I'd have more luck selling what I made online, but not a sausage. If anything it's a kick in the butt to get better at what I do more than anything else. I am still considering getting a table at MCM Expo next year though, as it's a much bigger convention for more than one day for not much more than Comix Thing was.
TL;DR Edition:
Fell in love, went to Alton Towers and some conventions, did quite a bit of drawing but not enough animating, still not in work but everything week of this year was made all the more brilliant thanks to being with Stacey. DA END.
For comparison check out last years summary.
