Anniversaries and the George Lucasing of Cindi the Ogre

In two days, this here site will renew. A year in, I’m still pretty happy with the design and layout (although I did switch to a more simpler background color scheme in the galleries). It may not garner the endorphin rush of likes and comments on the Instagram page, but this is mine. And let’s be honest, if you want to be taken seriously as a professional (or even a semi-professional), you should have something more than just a social media presence.

Better yet, there’s been content! I’ll save the whole year-end recap for next month, but - spoiler alert - I’ve been pretty consistent with making things year round, weather permitting. And most importantly, I’ve done so without ignoring my family (including a quick jaunt to Seattle to celebrate 23 years of marraige) or the corpo job that pays the bills (just passed the 27-year mark there, which holy hell, what?).

Right now, I’m struggling to finish updating Cindi the Ogre. Around August, I noticed that thanks to time and weather, the hands were falling off the arms (pro-tip - don’t use the 3/4” setting for pocket screws). It should’ve been a quick fix but it became less of a “let’s rebuild what broke but in a better manner” (ala the Devil of Lebanon Street) weekend project and more of a “the head and torso is good but everything else has to be rebuilt completely because I have lost my goddamn mind” overhaul.

It’s been a challenging process - how do I maintain the integrity of the original design while incorporating everything I’ve learned in the four years since? I’m a long way from screwing 2x6s together and calling them arms and legs. Horace Mann Husky, I’m looking at you. And let’s not forget that I spent a good two weeks overthinking the Demon Bear’s ass.

But I’m also wary of George Lucasing this. When I’m done with Cindi the Ogre, is it going to be the special edition of The Empire Strikes Back, with the subtle FX clean-ups, or is it going to be A New Hope or Return of the Jedi, something made too busy because I was too enamored with my own cleverness? I’m hoping for the former. We’ll see in a couple more weekends.

In the meantime, I’m going to fret over leg designs. Happy Thanksgiving, etc.