Last day of the year, late night on a long break.

Last minute thoughts in this year of two thousand and fourteen.

I had a few images I wanted to share of some of the stuff I had done right prior to having an almost two week break from work, and during it. Hallmark has this over week and a half time frame that no one goes to work, so it's a heck of a mental reset for people including myself, that work there. Top that off with all of our offices being moved shortly after we come back to work, and I'm sure as a creature of habitual routines, it will be uncomfortable and welcome at the same time.

I got to customize a stocking at work. To get candy in.

When I got to work one day, all of the people in my work group were requested to take some of the handed out craft materials and dress up a stocking so that our managers could stuff them with assorted candies. It was a fun break from the norm, and was the first time I'd ever used glitter glue. It's not something that I use everyday. :D

The finished stocking. The Nelson Atkins Museum had a beautiful Christmas tree on display.

That's the customized and now filled stocking up above. Later that week, I went to go see the Native American Plains Indian exhibit at the Nelson. The center entryway had a magnificently large Christmas tree with a manger scene.

I've always been one that holds off on being overly excited about Christmas. I'm not a fan of the commercialism of it by any stretch of the imagination. But I do like how, for at least a little while many places seem cheery and more joyous to be at during this season. I think it's the decorations that get me now as I get older.

To this day, I am still very guilty of drawing things in my notes margins. (Right) A recording booth I was totally unaware of at Hallmark.

Before we broke for the holiday break, I auditioned for another voice role at Hallmark. This time I got to do it in a studio that I didn't know was there. Hallmark is a massive, and winding place. I know for the first few months when I came back as contractual, I literally videoed with my phone, where I had walked in at and how to get to my cubicle. It's so odd because I rarely get lost in the outdoors, but stick me in a building, and I'm hopeless.

The recording booth was huge. I actually preferred this one because if I had wanted to cut loose and get into character, I had the space to do so.

So some of the other things that have happened,... hmmm, well I went to go see the final Hobbit movie. I enjoyed it, a lot. It was like watching a massive table top miniature game come to life at times, and there were some deviations from the Hobbit book that at first I really questioned, but in the end, I think it was my favorite of the three. I was sad that this would be the last of Peter Jackson's vision of his take on Tolkien's world. Well, save the obligatory extended directors cut that is sure to be out by March or August.

When I had watched the LotR movies he made, I enjoyed watching the appendices because of all of the behind the scenes stuff. It had been some years since I last watched them, and was happy to see that his new extended editions for the Hobbit movies continued with more appendices.

I think this eternally makes me a geek for all the ages, I don't know anyone else that has shadowbox framed thier old video card that met it's end during an especially monumental day, the last day of Warhammer Online. The video card on the left above is the latest one I am using in my rig.

One good thing that happens around Christmas is all of the insane restocking sales that occur everywhere. I picked up some shadowboxes from Micheals, and used the first one already. Yes, that is indeed an Nvidia graphics card, the one that had been in my gaming rig for all of the time that I had played WAR: Age of Reckoning when the game was still live and on EA servers. I gamed until I had cramps in my wrist that hurt like hell. I literally had my video card burn out the morning after almost 36 hours of power gaming with the rest of my online guild.

So, I took one of the last time cards I had for the game, a screenshot of my Disciple of Khaine named Gillradon in his best armor and items, and my burned out cpu graphic card and framed them. That is how much of a geek I am. And I have absolutely no shame about that. In fact, check out my hobby blog if you'd like, I just updated that tonight as well.

Well, I'm going to be happy that for the first time in over a decade, I don't have to baby sit a room full of drunk people.

See you all next year, when I'll talk about and show more artwork that I've been working on.

-Mario, the Artisan Rogue