Well I think I’ve found a place to move, and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s been a little bit of a search, but I think I found something that suits me. I’ll be renting a room in a beautiful house by Fairmount Ave, shaving maybe 20 minutes off my commute. The landlord at the place I’m currently at has agreed to give me a break on the lease and let me move this month. Not only that, but I’m getting a new kitten to boot! (I haven’t named her yet, but I was thinking Cat-Face…my girlfriend seemed to like it!)

In addition to all this stuff, I’ve been working on a Flash project that should have been done a long time ago, but got put off do to other obligations, time constraints, and me not knowing what I’m doing. It took a while, but I’m back into it now, and it’s close to completion.

Whenever I have a Flash interactive, be it a flash game, flash website, or product catalog, I usually hit up the boards at FlashKit.comto get help. The guys there are pros, and  have been doing this stuff for years. I was first introduced when I was in school, when my Flash teacher showed us the site as a resource for free flash sound effects. It took me a couple years of lurking before I ever actually registered and started posting there. Every once in a while I’ll share my limited Flash animation knowledge with some new guy, but for the most part it is I getting tips on how to most efficiently parse my XML file, or how to create an aesthetically pleasing motion tween (animation) using nothing but Flash ActionScript. I have some other forums I frequent too, but FlashKit is one of the best.

Recently I’ve been searching for a new apartment. Partly this is because I like a change of habitat every year or so, but with rising gas prices, I’m also looking to move closer to work.

The other day, I checked out a place that is literally only 10 minutes away. It is a really nice place, in a good neighborhood, and it has relatively cheap rent. Being 10 minutes away from DDA would dramatically increase my free-time during the week - I’d save 2 hours of commute every day. On the other hand, I’d have a roommate again, something that I wasn’t too fond of in the past.

The roommate is nice enough. She is a 49-year old woman with a dog and not too much else. She doesn’t have Internet or a computer, but doesn’t mind if I bring mine so I can work on my personal portfolio of 3d animation, 2d animation, and web interactive projects, or play my video games. The apartment does seem a little small though for the two of us - while I would have my own bedroom, I don’t know how I would feel about sharing such a small living area at this point.

Sometimes we need to accept conditions we wouldn’t necessarily like, just to get by financially. It may only be a temporary thing. I am looking at other places too - there’s a place I’m checking out today that seems promising. Wherever I move, I’ll still be here at DDA doing the best video production, animation, and web design in the Philadelphia area!