Twilight
A blog entry from Early June, 2008. I debated on whether to publish it, but here is is, on a whim perhaps:
Tonight, right around dusk, I went for a walk where the dim light of Provo lights fades to deep Sapphire, then the emerging stars and a crescent moon, like a lunar profile looking down over the Westward Mountains at the sullen glow of an obscured sun.
I can’t concentrate very long. It’s the prayer of the adult onset ADHD-er. “Father, forgive me for I can’t stop thinking about TV shows.”
But I stretched out my mind deeply as I could, making my soul rigid like a tuning fork, that perhaps I might hear a signal from deep space, something, anything.
I have important things to do. To raise my family. I have completed, or will complete soon my major task in this life—to purify a generation. My father before me was subjected to every vice of the world, and me to almost none (I found out in my last conversations with him the things that he shielded me from), and my children are in Primary learning hymns and having nightly scripture study.
I feel a deep and abiding sense like something is brewing with the Constitution. It is a spark given to man, like Prometheus’s fire, to deliver them from tyranny. That their freedoms CANNOT be taken away—they are given by almighty God. So, to get people to roll over on their rights, the first step is to get rid the Creator.
A hundred years of neglect has perhaps left it dimmed, perhaps. I am too feeble now to see things clearly. But surely it can be fanned into a blazing fire.
I don’t speak much of it, but I know for myself the nature and existence of God the Father, Christ, and the Devil. In the case of the former I thought it would make me a better man, but it didn’t. I still slacken my jaw at Victoria’s Secret ads, curse and whine at trivialities, sleep on the couch with the remote rather than in a bed with my wife, bark at my darling children over things that are not as bad as the very act of barking at them, eat twinkies instead of vegetables, and show up late to church and then only pay half-attention. Maybe that’s the point—I’m not supposed to be a good man of myself, but to acknowledge the goodness and greatness of God… and to recognize the farce that pretends to be god. I suspect that many other people have had the same experience, but don’t talk about it. In fact, I probably shouldn’t talk about it. This would explain (what appears to be) the baffling pig-headedness of “believers”. Oink.
I don’t pretend to know everything. Things unfold to me year after year. So, I make no pretensions (yes, my usual disclaimer) at being a good or righteous person. I am only a fellow-traveler.
I can say this for sure: everything ends well. If that’s what you want. What you really want. This life is the Test of the Soul. Not like a written exam type test, but an acid test. The Refiner’s Fire. One author I read from described it as a “voyage of self-discovery”.
Saturday June 14 2008
Right now this instant, I’m eating some delicious slow-cooked ribs slathered in BBQ sauce.
It was a long hard day in ninety degree weather making some primo terrain.
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Sarah was being schooled in the exquisite art of display boards, and Mike and I were working on the Boneyard, which is easily one of the best terrain sets to come out of this studio, standing tall at a beefy twenty-eight pieces. You’ll likely get to see it on Monday.
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Didn’t get as much done as I had hoped. I wanted to do some D&D terrain, expand the Mushroom Forest, and finish the Swamp set of terrain.
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We were going to do the display for Tyranids 01 FL but I decided to wait and see what the artist did with it.
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I got “The Revolution: a Manifesto” by Ron Paul as my Father’s Day gift. I am in seventh heaven. I was reading it, thinking of what might be a good set of quotes for the blog, but the whole book is a good quote. I plan on buying as many as I can and distributing them to good souls around the country. It is an insanely good read. I ever so highly recommend it.
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Other big news in Gately’s World: fourth edition of D&D. It’s looking pretty darn good so far. They muscled it up and got rid of a lot of wrinkles.
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Tonight, my heart is filled with gratitude for all the good people that are involved with Blue Table: artists, fans and clients. Thank you ever so much.
Here Comes the Sun
It’s Friday afternoon.
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Listen to this music while reading this post:
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My Inbox is completely clear. I’m completely ready for inquiries or anything else!
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My heart is full of optimism for the future. Life is just getting better and better.
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The world growing darker is an illusion. We are just looking closer at ever shrinking dark spots.
I’m going on a date with my wife tonight.
Thursday June 12 2008 Sugar Addict
Picture: Wood Elf battle standard bearer. See the tree kin.
It’s been another long day.
Last night, I decided to not eat any sugar for 24 hours. For breakfast I ate celery sticks and carrots and water. Around 4pm today I think I started getting what must be like “the shakes”. Is that normal? Do you get withdrawals from sugar?
Right around 7pm I would have ripped the head off a puppy for a king-sized Snickers.
But I held out until I finally had a cinammon bun at 10pm tonight.
Now, back to the regular day. The following projects are under the brush:
Witch Hunters 02 KO
Tzeentch 02 JS Harald done
Inquisition 01 RT
Khemru TP
Orks 02 RC “Matt”
Alpha Legion 01 TU
Tyranids 02 FL display board
Tyranids 01 FL
Vampire Counts 01 MS
Dark Angels 02 JM
Dwarfs 01 KF two weeks
Legion of the Damned 01 MN
There are a number of projects that are in Digital Photography. Those should be up by tomorrow.
The following projects are in Assembly:
Hounds of Khorne 01 CA
Dwarfs 01 KF
Black Templars 01 DG er
Marauder 01 GF Repairs
Chaos Daemons 01 TT
Bretonnians 01 BA
Ulthwe Skyhost 01 JB
Sa Cea Tau 01 PP
If you don’t see your project on there, by all means get in touch with me. There are three projects delayed right now for bitz (I think they are all Eldar related!). I am working on those and plan on getting them to the top of the list.
I have no armies that I’m working on. All I can do is think about running a D&D adventure. But I’m really having to learn a whole new game. Fourth Edition is written a lot like a Magic TG rulebook. I think it’s very, very positive in almost every way.
My wife is getting jealous. She caught me whispering sweet nothings to the PHB tonight.
If you don’t follow Youtube, you really should. I have something new up there almost every day.
I just can’t kill the beast! I’ve been working on my Inbox– please bear with me and re-send if it’s been a few days. Don’t think your item isn’t important, just be patient. And contacting me on Google chat is really really good.
Wednesday June 11 2008
Picture: Trollbloods, part of a larger force.
The day started at a chipper 6:30am and did not let up until 10:30 at night. Sweet. It feels good.
Can I have s’more sir?
I set up the Manufactorum terrain this morning but did not have time to shoot a video. It looks amazing!
I picked up the new D&D books today. That was blessed relief. It’s like a whole different game– looks good so far.
I know this post is pretty anemic. More to come tomorrow.
Tuesday June 10 2008 Hell on Earth
Picture: Tyranids pour forth from the Deep Desert.
See a video of the Sandstone Terrain set. This can be duplicated and shipped for $350.
I am training a few people to make high quality terrain. So, we will likely make terrain one or two times a month. This is a major deal. We will be making some display boards this weekend.
As of June 17 I will have two Assemblers (Renn and the new guy– who is INSANELY good at green stuff and conversion work) idle. So, I’m ready to make a deal. I have a whole bunch of materials at the studio that I would offer at 50% off if someone wanted to commission them sometime soon. Of the top of my head I’d say we have a Vampire Counts army, a Khorne Daemons Army (either system) and a 40K Ork army on hand. If you’re interested and have a decent budget, please let me know, I will get something very attractive worked up for you… as long as you can get some unassembled models to the Assembly room in about a week!
PS to that– we are VERY interested in doing more Tyranids and Vampire Counts and/or Daemons. Bring it on.
I also put up a lot of sets of terrain for sale. They are going fast. I expect to have at least half of them gone by the end of this week.
You’ll have to check www.youtube.com/bluetablepainting for that stuff. I will be putting two more sets on the block tomorrow.
What’s on my mind? Sustainability. When you use Blue Table Painting you get reasonable prices. They are fair to you, fair to the artist, and fair to the company. Those are the three people that all have to be happy for it to work long term. BTP is a real business. We are going on five years in business. I have clients doing part two of armies created in 2004.
Personal: the wife and kids have been away for a few days. I rented Hellboy, ordered combo/hawaiin pizza and slept on the couch. It was fun while it lasted, but I’m glad to have them back.
Tamie got back home late, all three snooches fast asleep in the car. There’s something magical about bringing the kids in and putting them to bed.
Sunday June 8 2008
Picture: Art by Alexandra R.
I literally wrapped up Terrain Fest at midnight last night.
I slept ever so well, waking up with little hands on each cheek. I opened my eyes. Griffin was looking at me earnestly. “Dad, I want to pick a show.” So, I put on some Ben 10: Alien Force and went to sleep again on the couch.
I am reading the High Elf arm book again. I am really hankering to play a game of Warhammer Fantasy.
(On Saturday afternoon I ran into my good friend James M. at the grocery store and maybe I’ll get in a game with him).
I was called like five times this morning for various church stuff, including two requests to sub in primary classes. I ended up teaching Jonah’s class which was pretty fun. I’m really good at working with puppets and that holds the little ankle-biters’ attention.
The only thing that could make this day perfect would be to have a copy of the new Fourth Edition D&D books. I’d love to run an adventure.
My wife is going to spend the next few days with her sister (who is having major surgery), so I’m left home alone. As usual it will be fun at first then I will miss them terribly.
This afternoon I made an “Orange Cream Float” with double vanilla ice cream and orange soda. It was heavenly, you should really try it.
Saturday June 7 2008 Another Land
Hey all. Did you think I was dead?
Well, it was Terrain Fest and I’ve fallen very behind on my regular duties.
I had on the agenda about four display boards, but ran into a snag with materials so all of those have been delayed. I’m ordering materials on Monday. I may do a mini-Terrain Fest next weekend.
Shawn
Thursday June 5 2008 Terrain Fest Day One
Picture: one of Renn’s Possessed for his “Yellow Devils” army.
I am beat.
My life is sweet.
I am working my way through the inbox on odd moments, so be patient. I encourage you, if you have a quick question, to give me a call at 801 372 8545 it will be a lot easier since I can talk to you while I am working on the giant Terrain project.
We are very much hoping to find buyers for all the terrain.
An average table takes about 12 pieces of terrain and would cost $200. Shipping is $15. Keep your eyes peeled a lot of good stuff is coming.
I made an army list for my beloved Hero Sky Raiders army. I thought I only had 1200 pts but I was deeeelighted to find that it was 2000 (without any magic items). So, I’m holding on to it and maybe even adding some pieces.
Did I mention that my gorgeous pregnant wife and I went to see Prince Caspian. I really liked it. It was sweet, sensible, and had some great action sequences but wasn’t overdone. The characters and plot were convincing.
Aaaand, Tamie went in for her first ultrasound. It’s too early to tell gender (yes, we both like to know) only the due date: December 28. Now, I absolutely refuse to let this child get shafted for their birthday getting eclipsed by Christmas. We all know how that works.
Wednesday June 4 2008 Undead Deal
Picture: a Pyre Troll from the game of Hordes.
See more pics here.
Hear the commentary of the Artist here.
Right now it’s about 11pm and I’m sitting at my living room desk, typing, while my two beautiful snooches eat popcorn and watch the pilot episode of Star Trek Enterprise with me. They are a delight. I can’t get enought of them.
Flash back 21 hours. At 2:30am this morning I woke up from a deep slumber, refreshed, and so I ate some pasta, fired up the laptop and took care of some emails. Then I went back to sleep until about 8am.
The family was all sleeping in. It had rained last night, but was green and wet and quiet this morning. I checked on the rabbits. One of them is still running around.
I got to the studio around 10am and started cracking. I didn’t get around to unpacking so I still have three packages un-opened there. However, almost all of the projects that were in digital photography are all the way through.
As of June 10 (next Tuesday) I have an Assembler idle. I’d love to get a project going there. He’s new, so you don’t get to meet him. I will say this, though, he is quite the expert at green stuff. I was amazed to find him putting scale-work on some Alpha Legion tanks this morning. He’s got a real talent. He’s even completed and cast some scratch models– they are a little rough for publication, but I think that you’ll see some good things from him in the future. You won’t get to meet him for about three more months, though.
I picked up a Vampire Counts army, but the deal fell through. So, I have a lot of figures on hand. If you want to commission them, the cost for the models would be 50% off. I am also still running the L2 core-tastic special. It’s a really good deal.
Get price guides for Vampire Counts here.
Now, if you’ve read this far, I have one more plug. I’m making a LOAD of terrain the next three days. If you want some now’s a good time to set that up.