To the vector belong the spoils

The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics

This was a favorite of mine as a child. Animated by Chuck Jones and brilliantly designed by Maurice Noble. Straying from the usual Looney Tunes animated shorts, this piece really stood out to me. I remember being amazed at how a story was told using such a simple concept. I later appreciated it for how complicated it was while using those themes. Keep an eye on the backgrounds also, as they are beautiful in their abstract placement and design.

Do take a moment to watch or re-watch if you have a moment.

Ciao-
~Doctor Grymm

Contemplating Rainbows

Contemplating Rainbows
Originally uploaded by SteamGearLab.com

My mind was racing all night and I woke up with a headache. So much has been on my mind lately, and I'm having a hard time keeping track of it all. All I did want was some coffee. As I poured a nice hot cup, I reached for the cream... Empty. I let out a deep sigh, and heard the sigh returned from the living room. When I walked in I saw this. Stitch looked up at me briefly, then back down at the rainbow projected on the floor cascading in from the front door window. I guess it was his way of telling me to take a breather, as there are little things more beautiful to focus on sometimes. At least that's what I got out of it.

He is deep in his own way. Thanks Stitch. Our house is more a home with you in it.

Ciao~

Doctor Grymm

My son

SGL Lil Grymm Goggles AD
Originally uploaded by SteamGearLab.com

My son is pretty amazing. Yes I know all children are to their parents, so let me take my time to be biased. I see so much of myself when I was a kid, in my son. It's a weird perspective. I mean I know how I was treated when I was a kid. It will be no shock to my friends that my "talents" were not appreciated as a child. Well not by my mother and sister anyway, but that's a different story for another time.

One thing we can all agree on is that watching a child learn is one of the most incredible things ever. The Hows that work followed by the "Ah-HA!" moments are so special. For instance, I being a fan of animation from when I was a child, was curious if the old school animation I grew up with would make my kid laugh. I noticed that almost all of the animation that is forced down kids throats these days are more commercials for a toy and brain numbing, without a trace of actual humor or entertainment. My test was to sit my son down to watch 'Duck Amuck', one of my favorite's as a child.

Keep in mind, at this point, James had no knowledge of Daffy Duck nor who he was. I refrained from laughing at any of the parts just to see what he would think. It was AWESOME! he laughed like I have never seen him laugh at a cartoon. but it was what he was laughing at that was interesting. It wasn't the slapstick of it all, it was Daffy's inflection and pauses that punctuates his sarcasm. This was a few years back, but ever since that day, he will watch old Looney Tunes over Spongebob any day. Whats even more interesting is that he works on mimicking their voices, and works hard to get them just right. He does the same with sound effects. Something I remember doing as a child also. He once came home from school and told me that he was shocked that one of his friends had "no idea" who Wile E. Coyote was. "How could he not know?? I told him ALL about him". THAT is hysterical to me.

Music has always been a big part of his life too. Introducing him to different styles has been important since he was very small, especially classical and instrumental. He also likes Jazz, Blues, and Swing. Since he could talk, he has always had this knack for picking up sound cues in instrumental music for films and knowing what was happening in those few notes. Again, something I did as a kid. Being that we spend a lot of time in the car driving to and from RI, we pack the trip full of music to enjoy. I load up some favorites of his on the iPod and add some that he's never heard to get his opinion. He is very curious and will ask several questions about the sound of instruments or what lyrics mean and those are the bright spots of my trips.

So the young man turned 8 recently. he's at that age I was dreading where he is coming to the realization of the divorce and how it all works. It's difficult for him. I think it's come about because of other kids at school or his cousins and seeing how they live, or it could just be the distance between us. I know it's hard for me to be so far away and only seeing him on weekends. but I would imagine it is harder for him some days. Both his mother and I do the best that we can to make it easier for him and make him understand, but to an 8 year old, it's not always that cut and dry. My wife also encourages him as much as she can and does a great job of finding just the right words for him, when it seems I have exhausted all in my arsenal. She's great that way.

I find that working on projects with him is really bringing us together. He is really starting to adopt the Steampunk aesthetic. Not that I should be surprised by that. the kid has loved steam trains since he could crawl, and can explain how they work better than anyone I know on Brass Goggles. He has already constructed his first Steam/bubble gun and this weekend built his first pair of goggles (seen above). Like with me, it's like complicated Lego's to him. he comes up with some cool ideas and loves hanging out in my studio taking this from that and seeing how it fits together differently. coming up with little stories for the contraptions is also a favorite of his. Not sure if he gets it from me, or I get it from him sometimes. All in all, he is turning out to be a great kid, and I will always be proud of him, for being himself.

Ciao-

~Doctor Grymm

WELCOME! And just who is this Dr. Grymm...really?

Greetings all and welcome to the inaugural blog post!

In actuality, this is a continuation of a blog I used to keep years ago. I've kind of missed blogging. Not because I had any huge fan base of readers, but because I enjoyed journaling so much growing up. After my surgery in 2000, my physical writing in leather bound books declined and the Internet seemed to be much easier on the hands. So here I will continue to post about my creative works, my rants and raves, and whatever else it is I usually keep bottled up.

So as much as the title of the blog may read, this blog is NOT just about Steampunk work. In a way, I am taking the "U" out of Steampunk, because I create it for me, not for you. Steampunk was a way that I imagined as a kid. It was in the literature my sister would read to me at bed time. It's what I would build after I tore apart my Transformers and Go-Bots. It was the way I decided to draw and create as I came into my own style, and it is what led me to start a business with Ahren. The word Steampunk was pretty much vacant in my world up until a few years ago. When I finally asked what Steampunk was, my friend led me to a few websites and said, it's what you've been drawing since I met you. And so eventually SteamGearLab.com was born. But I'll get more into that in another post.

For now, we have just entered 2009. I am not going to continue by saying that I hope 2009 is better than 2008 or any other year. I am not the kind of guy that thinks that a year is any better or worse than any other. Believe me I've had my fair share of both, but they always seem to overlap. It's like the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy for instance. Most people say they like one film more than another, where as I just enjoyed all 3 as one big story. It's just how I look at things. So as far as years go, I just look at the years like chapters in a book. A good chapter book will subtly take you on a ride, reveal some secrets, make new questions, introduce new characters, and say good bye to others. Almost every chapter has some mix of that as do the years for me.

This past year was on the mostly good side. Celebrated an anniversary, both with my wife and in our home. I started a new business with a friend, met some new friends and clients in the Art world, and heck, I think I've been more creative this year than I have been since 2000. Sure I lost a day job, but so have many people. Politically and economically, the world was/is in the shitter. There will be change either way, except now I think people finally realize that it is up to individuals to change and no "one man" will do it for them. (Oh yeah, I voted for the first time too!)

As for this man, yeah, loosing the day job had been frightening. I have spent years carefully balancing my artistic career with a day job that will support my family. And by balancing I mean 70/30 with the day job having the advantage. As much as I have always hated the day jobs, it put food on our plates and paid the rent/mortgage. And believe me, do not think I am ignoring the millions of people who built this world by working day jobs they hated. coming home from factories and mines being in poorer health than when they left that morning, just to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. I don't think I am any better than those people and I know I wouldn't be here with out them. But I will say, that I have always believed that I was meant to create art for a reason and it was to make the world a better place even if it's one paint stroke at a time. So I did what I needed to do.

Then an opportunity is handed to me based on nothing except a friends sudden urge to "build a better Steampunk Mousetrap" so to speak and suddenly this new business takes off out of no where. We are contacted by a film producer after just days of posting some of our new contraptions and I finally see something that hasn't been obtainable since I left California in 1994. A real creative day job. The opportunities continue to grow and I am no balancing the day job and the Art job at at least 50/50, when reality hits, and the economy knocks the day job out from under me. I knew it was coming, I was just hoping that it would have been on my terms. A rarity, I know, but at least I was in a better place than most when it happened.

So was loosing the day job the Universe giving me an opportunity to do what I love again? Maybe. My friends seem to think so. I still try to be realistic and send out resumes just in case... Well in case I fail. 35 years of doing that will keep that fear right over your shoulder. I don't doubt my art as much as I doubt the times, I guess. It keeps me on an emotional roller coaster every night. Ahren and I have so many projects just waiting to leap off the page and into our laps, but that is all controlled by several producers. Hence why I continue to search for a day job to pay the bills. I hate keeping my wife in such agony, especially since she has her own issues with family health to deal with. So 86 ignored resumes later, I continue the search, while also making new contacts every day in the art world to try and make that a reality. Deep down I feel like I will be forced into the day job, just before all these projects go live and I will loose my opportunity again. Either way, I have to do what's right for my family. I just hope maybe this time it will work out for me too.

And so, for better or for worse, Chapter 36 begins for me, as does this blog.

From Doctor Grymm here in the lab, I bid you all good day.