1329 By Degrees.

by

Reggie may never get that arm back. It’s a good things he’s right dominant. Then again he might find having Maddy glued to him enjoyable after a while.

If you look at the twitter feed for around this date you’ll see a picture of my favorite shampoo. I took a picture so I would remember what to look for. Clarifying is apparently what I like, without scent or color. There’s a kind with the same name that isn’t clear and doesn’t work properly. It leaves my hair feeling the same as before I cleaned it, which defeats the purpose in many ways. It comes in a bronze bottle and is filled with lie juice. For whatever reason, clarifying shampoo on Amazon is ridiculously expensive, on average. Upwards of $20 a bottle in some cases. I never knew there was a market for that kind of price gouging outside of action figures and collectibles. How naïve I was… This shampoo business is really getting to be an obsession. Of course there are worse things to obsess over than wanting to be clean… If I’d stayed as obsessed with my flossing as with shampoo I might not have those 2 cavities waiting to be dealt with. I need to put my little jar of floss sticks back on my desk like they were. I don’t remember why they ended up moved in the first place. I can’t even find their little baggie at the moment…

Subject change. Do any of you guys make music, like with Fruity Loops, or whatever? I’ve been dabbling, but I don’t really know anything about that stuff. Is there an entry level freeware program I can play with to make music? You know, that reminds me of something. Ages ago someone said they were going to write a theme for the comic and then they never spoke to me again. I wonder what happened to them. Pretty much all that kind of thing falls apart pretty fast. There was going to be a French translation at one point, Chinese, Spanish… Hopefully all these people realized that their time was more valuable than doing all of that work for nothing. XD I would have liked the song though. Someone, presumably the same person who has made most of the Between Failures entry on TV Tropes, has made an extended cast… list? Page? Anyway, whatever you call it, I’m going to link to it on the cast page when I remember how, if not just steal it directly from the very code of the site. You really can’t beat that site for free labor, once someone comes along who gives enough of a crap about the crap you make to write crap about said crap. It’s been useful enough to me that I have largely overlooked the undercurrent of hatred that lurks just below the surface of everything written there. I appreciate that they don’t put that shit on front street. I like classy, unspoken, revulsion… or at least thinly veiled hatred. I know that some… cartoonists, I guess you’d call me. Don’t care for the site. Probably because the people writing their entries are openly hostile. It can be hard to embrace a person, or group of people, who spend their free time meticulously cataloging the myriad ways you are a hack. The people, or person, writing my entry are/is snarky, but rarely take it to eleven. I appreciate that.

Anyway, I’d like to play around with some kind of music software that’s more suited to creation than Audacity. Audacity is certainly good for editing, but not so much for building from the ground up… Or at least I don’t know how to use it properly.

While I’m thinking about it, if you’re a patron but haven’t checked Patreon for a while there are some new things up there. A Brooksie pinup and… something else? I forget. Maybe it was just that. I have a vague memory of something else. Anyway, I haven’t made the addition to The Wandering King yet. Maybe I’ll get to it this weekend. Honestly, with the sickness and everything I don’t know how Xmas is going to go down. My sister may be coming down this weekend for her yearly meet and greet, which is good, but it basically shoots a day down for me. I’m really scrambling at the moment to keep nearly on schedule. This may be the year that finally breaks the streak. I’ll just go down like the Undertaker and sadly, slowly, dejectedly, shamble back to the locker rooms. Then again, I’m about a page and a half down. Maybe I can get my shit in order and find a shiny object to distract the Teen with… In any case, you’ll be able to see either my triumph, or my pathetic breakdown, right here. Won’t that be something?

Return Of Teen Corner
hey peoples I am still a miserably sick teen and I feel like crap. I’ve been coughing non stop and my throat hurts very bad but I’m glad I am now on Christmas break speaking of only like 7 days till Christmas!!!!! then I get to know what’s in the big box from Thomas Blackwell also to the people messaging Jackie giving him ideas about that box and how to torture me not cool peeps not cool. and I thought we were friends! lol just kidding but I’m anxious to open that damn box and to see what “Santa” brings this year. I managed to just barely pass all my finals so hopefully Santa keeps that in mind, (hint, hint Santa hint, hint!) I have to go see my mom here eventually which I’m not to excited about but I’m hoping for the best. I was supposed to have therapy today but I guess the therapist took the week off and didn’t bother to tell my aunt so yeah. my plan for tonight is to watch some TV, draw a little and sleep and drink some broth so maybe tomorrow I wont feel like complete crap. This weekend we might have an adventure to my grandmas to see my cousin Jackie’s sister, which I’m sure will be fun. I don’t see her often but apparently I’m a bit like her in her teen days but now she’s an adult, son! then I might pick up one of my friends from garden city and kidnap her till Christmas eve. I haven’t seen her in a few months so I’m really hoping she gets to come stay with me for a little bit. other than that I will be drawing ,sleeping ,watching TV ,bugging Jackie, wrapping presents and maybe cleaning and cooking a little. this break is very much needed. I’m soooooo excited for Christmas I just hope I get rid of this sickness soon. goodnight all from a very tired/sick teen

32 Comments

http://www.target.com/p/pantene-pro-v-clarifying-shampoo-12-6-oz/-/A-15044594

Not available for shipping, I’m afraid. Two hours is a bit of a drive for shampoo, but thanks for actually finding the proper listening for me finally.

here’s an idea for you. Find the website/contact info for the company that makes the shampoo, and send them a message (email, post, whatever) that lets them know you enjoy a particular product they make, and would appreciate some samples to give out as stocking stuffers, etc.

Shave your head man. Saved me a bundle. I had greasy hair too and I sweat like mad to boot. It’s not so bad when you get used to it.

Librarians get bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, maybe doctorates. More often than not, librarians come from other backgrounds, then get a master’s degree specializing in such fields. (Librarians degrees also covers people who work in museums and such.) Near Kansas City is the private Linda Hall library, which specializes in scientific library research. Quite fancy of a place. I’m pretty Maddie would have a bachelor’s degree if she went four years.

I’m also sure she’s messing with Reggie’s mind. Possibly a mind screw before she takes him to a quiet room and screws him a whole different way.

Many JDs (law school graduates) also become librarians. Strange, but true. At least they don’t become lawyers.

(No, a JD does not make you a lawyer. Passing the Bar Exam does that. Then we have our Govenor, who had to take the Bar Exam three times before he passed.)

suave makes clarifying shampoo. It’s light blue. You can get it at target or Walmart for under $6. It is the new black.

If I remember correctly it’s perfumed and does not clean properly, but I’ll keep an eye out all the same.

Alternatively you could try going ‘poo free and wash your hair with vinegar and baking soda. Google it for the how to. Takes a few days to normalize.

My hair is a completely different kind of annoying. All that stands between me and that tongue-in-the-light-socket look are the oily hair care products I smear on my head, and the only thing that’s ever irritated my scalp will also react with parts of the bathroom sink. (Hair bleach is vile stuff.) So this might not actually be good advice, but it’s all I’ve got.

From time to time I do want to remove every last bit of oil from my hair, and my clarifying shampoo of choice is dish soap. It’s sold pretty much everywhere, it’s at least as cheap as normal shampoo, and it cuts grease like nothing else. You can generally find a few unscented and all-natural type flavors mixed in with the standard array of fruits and sins against the word ‘breeze’, and if it turns out you don’t like it on your head it works just fine on dishes.

Best of luck with your quest.

I have also used dishwashing liquid when out of shampoo. It’s worth a try. I suspect that they use the same detergents (sodium dodecyl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate), and the big difference is in the perfumes and the addition of conditioners.

You know, you can use bar soap on your hair if you have a kind you like. I used to do that when I showered in locker rooms and on camping trips, so I didn’t have to carry more crap. Costs nothing to try.

For free (electronic) music creation, I’m a fan of Sunvox, limited as it is. Frooty Loops generally sounds like a very cheap Pro Tools knockoff to me.

Haven’t messed around much with Sunvox for a while, but I know there’s a boatload of tutorial videos and such.

The funny thing is, my favorite “entry level” Music software is something called Mario Paint Composer. It’s basically a simple Midi-editor in the style of the old SNES game. Simple sheet music setup and super uncomplicated. http://mario-paint-composer.en.softonic.com/

If you want a bit more control, I would go with Reaper. It’s technically not free, but they have an indefinite trial that I’ve been using for years (and will probably purchase if I ever get to the point of finishing anything…). It’s definitely a bit of a handle to get started, so I would watch a few youtube videos on getting started with MIDI editing. http://www.reaper.fm/purchase.php

If you REALLY want to get involved in music, there are a few free classes on Coursera.org related to music production.

I don’t know what kind of program you’re looking for, but I know there’s a free software tracker that’s called Sunvox.

A tracker is the kind of program used to make electronic music. Basically it consists of three parts. In one part you create the instrument by telling the computer how to make the sound, in the second part you can put “patterns” for each instrument which is kind of like sub melodies. Then you can put the patterns in “sequences”. The only thing I got from it was that I am bad at music.

I know of Rosegarden which is a MIDI sequencer, but it only runs on GNU/Linux and I never got it to run quite correctly on my system.

I kind of want to try Aria Maestosa now which is like Rosegarden but runs on most platforms.

Anyway, have a look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MIDI_editors_and_sequencers

I just downloaded Aria Maestosa to try it out, and it looks like a good, basic MIDI sequencer. It offers the standard library of MIDI instruments and even allows automation for volume, tempo, and the like. I second this recommendation if you want something simple to play around with.

Also, I might work on a theme song for Between Failures if I find the time (I used to write theme songs for my friends in high school).

I’m sure she is naturally cutesy but she seems to be trying extra hard perhaps because of the large infusion of new and tender man meat to the library. That probably doesn’t happen every day.

It appears that Pantene considers this market not robust enough to continue that particular type of shampoo. It is said that a particular foreign distributed product made under the Pantene label uses the same formula but I won’t even bother linking it as it costs like over 40 dollars.

There are similar products from Pantene that cost almost as much as the last stock of the one you want. (probably also from a foreign source?) So I guess you don’t gain much except maybe they aren’t discontinued like yours is.

http://www.amazon.com/PANTENE-CLARIFYING-Shampoo-RESIDUE-REMOVAL/dp/B00JAO29O2/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1419024572&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=Pantene+Clarifying+Shampoo+400Ml

And finally there are Pantene items that seem similar to yours but the ingredients have somewhat different wording (maybe they describe some of their chemicals differently but they are actually the same?) from foreign markets but are cheap there. If you can even find a way to get them here probably cost you as much as the 15 dollar ones above…

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=271594244

I focused on Pantene hoping their clarifying products without extras would work the same.

As far as the dregs of what you were looking for there is this one for $9.00 + shipping on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00N4VKLP6/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

If its still there as one disappeared as I was looking.

I wasn’t thinking your phrase in an erotic way, but:it will take me awhile to get the phrase, “large infusion of new and tender man meat to the library…” out of my mind!

No really, I do like the phrase, but your phrase has fun levels of [creativity + unusual thoughts] that I never thought I’d encounter today.
That’s lots of fun! :D

For music, a REALLY good free program for all levels is Musescore. It includes almost any instrument, transposition of said instrument, or obscure type of instrument you can imagine, has a library of music that users have uploaded to the site, and the only prerequisite is some understanding of how to read music.

I suspect what Maddie has is an Associates degree in Library Science. It’s about as easy to get as an A.L.A. (Associates in Liberal Arts), which is to say, easy.

Pantene now offers their Pro-V Clarifying Shampoo in a new labeling, Pro-V Truly Natural Clarifying Shampoo. I suspect it’s the same thing in a fancy, copper-colored bottle. Sniff-test time!

I believe that is the one he mentions in his blog that is bronze colored and filled with lie juice. I wouldn’t want to sniff that! XD

I personally compose all my pieces on noteflight, and then use fl studios to convert the midi into an mp3 or wav file.

http://www.noteflight.com is an online composition program thats free for the most part save for an extended library and more room to create scores

I’d say, as far as music composition goes, the actual program you use is more of an interface than anything else. In most cases it won’t actually affect the quality of stuff you can produce… it’s more of a personal preference based on the UI (*gets bricked by people who are actually serious about that kind of stuff*). That kind of program is called a VST, for virtual studio technology (or VST Host is what it’s called, sometimes).

What really makes all the sounds and junk is all the plugins and filters you get! VST plugins! A VA synth means virtual analogue synth–is the thing that emulates analogue synthesizers and gives you all your sounds: the instrument, so to speak. Filters are the stuff like equalizers, compressors–basically stuff that works like guitar pedals. There is a staggering array of free VST plugins and filters–some sound really great and some are terrible.

The VST host program will let you set up a track/layer, and have some way to set it to one of the VST plugins/instruments you downloaded, and somewhere where you can click to edit the plugin and the interface for the plugin will pop up. There you mess around with stuff to make the different sounds.

It’s really easy to get obsessed about collecting a ton of them, and learning all about messing around with waveform and all the synth settings… for a person who’s kind of a gearhead, it’s like candy.

You know…. after re-reading her interaction with neil and john, now seeing her with reggie, I am suspecting maddi is much more than she lets on. I could totally be wrong, but she seems she has are really good head on her shoulders and she has her act down pat

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