.:HoA Presents!:.

It’s times like this that I really wish I could be Mr. “Simple Reasons for Doing Stuff”-guy. So just kick back, Sally. This is going to be fun.

I’ve had a UStream account for a bit now. I never really used it much before and certainly not as much as I have in the past week or so. One of the reasons for this is I just didn’t have that thought in my head. It never flashed through that, since I’m already sitting at my system I could just turn on the screen capture program and broadcast this randomness out to the Internet at large. For as much as I claim otherwise, my mind simply doesn’t work like that. It’s the reason I never kept up a blog, why I never joined Livejournal and a key reason I don’t hit up the IM programs like I used to. My life is about as thrilling a show as paint drying and - trust me on this one - at least paint will change drastically over a short period of time.

The reason I have been going live pretty much every night/morning is two fold. First is that motivation that only a crowd can provide. Ask anyone - when you think folks are watching you, your activities and responses change slightly. I work harder knowing that there is an off-chance someone is watching. It’s my own defense mechanism when I’m out in public. Instead of interacting with the world, I toss it aside and draw/write/read a book.

Strange? Yes, but it works.

Not only am I more on top of my strip but I’m actually driven ever-so-slightly more to see an image out to the end knowing the nameless eyes of the Internet are upon me. Plus, as a viewer there is a good chance you are or might become a reader of my webcomic. This technically elevates you to a quasi-boss status. Many folks tend to goof off less when they know the boss could be watching.

The second reason is a simpler one. I broadcast from my bedroom in a nowhere town after midnight. I have no car, no free friends and no true art buddies I can talk with. When all that hits you, you realize it’s pretty damn lonely over here. Out of the seven souls in this house, I’m the only one up. I am the night shift.

Honestly, doing a broadcast when someone pops in makes working until dawn a little more manageable. Without it, I’m barking at the dark, listening to the sounds of drunken college kids or the cry of emergency vehicles on there way to someplace else.

Drink that in for a minute.

Consider this a bit of an apology for flooding folks feeds with “Drawing live! Come join me!” and other mildly sarcastic remarks followed by a link. It’s keeping me focused on work and making these walls drop a little bit so I can get things done.

*Zoinks*