The Lonely Cache
Posted on September 7, 2024 by Bruce

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #6502

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Bruce
6502aSo you might have heard that I hang around with a lot of geeks… or that as far as I’m concerned everyone is a geek, it just matters what they are passionate about.  MINIon #6502 fits one of the stereo types for a geek, his MINIon # is from “… the microprocessor that I grew up with, one year I had my grandparents give me the hardware and programming Manual for it as a Christmas gift! The first computer I built was based around the 6502, and it got me my first job, which eventually led to where I am today!”  

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0777

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Bruce
0777So this is my samurai MINIon… I believe he is part of the “Ookagowa” shogunate.  Recently I had the chance to play “Age of War” at Saltire Games (my local game shop) It’s a quick dice based game in which players try to capture castles and various clans.  Lots of fun, but reminded me of how little I know. MINIon #0777, mentioned that they had Japanese style tattoos, so combined with having played Age of War- this is what happens.

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #1177

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Bruce
1177I didn’t always understand the connection between a pet and a person… no really.  I know many of you would find this difficult to understand knowing the bond between myself & Hemi (best cat in the world).  You see as a child I never had a pet, I had hundreds of them.  At one point we had three (?) dogs, four or five cats, two goats, five or six chickens, four guinea pigs, two hamsters, two parakeets, and around 100 rabbits.  It’s hard to get attached to a pet when there are so many to choose from.  As I grew older the numbers dwindled, but it still was difficult when we just kept getting more.  So when I moved away, I made a conscious choice to not have a pet.  Hemi was Sue’s idea (she had never had a pet). I bring this up because many MINIons have pets, and want to have their pet included in the badge I draw… this is more difficult than you would think.  Basically I can draw a “dog” but to draw your exact dog is hard.  You know where every little spot is, and that exact expression.  I had a student once who asked me to draw a dog- and then told me the exact breed.  I then asked her to describe it for me and she said it looks like a collie, but smaller.  So I drew a collie and was told that I got it wrong because the tail wasn’t right.  The dog on this badge is the best interpretation of a sable German Shepherd I can do.  I hope it’s good enough.

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0723

Posted on April 4, 2015 by Bruce
0723So I met this couple on the road during MTTS 2014 and as part of my not having to socialize I brought my sketch pad along to the evening event in Reno and doodled.  I ended up drawing a lot of MINIons for people and one of them was a MINIon Marine… Getting the basics right is easy, but having a retired Marine living across the street, I know there are specifics (even when talking about ex-marines vs. retired marines- and I probably got it wrong.) When I drew this in Reno I googled the Marine Corp insignia so that I got that right.  The good thing about my doodles is they are black and white, pen and ink, that’s all.  When adding color, you get an entirely new dimension to mess up.  I probably should have taken a picture of the drawing to make it easier- doh!

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0157

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Bruce
0157aI’m not sure if I have the correct variety of apple for this one… but that’s an easy enough fix. When we study tall tales my students read about the pioneer who brought apples to Oregon… it is a rather interesting story, the version we read (Apples to Oregon) is told by his daughter who lets the reader know that his family, may not have been as important to him as his cargo of saplings.  As with many tall tales there is some basis on fact, but I doubt he really named his kids after kinds of apples.

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0055

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Bruce
0055aZOOOOOOOOM!!!  When creating personal MINIons sometimes it is hard, and as I have said before the difficulty is trying to meet everyone’s expectations.  When just drawing for drawing’s sake I can make mistakes and there isn’t an issue.  When I draw for someone (even when I don’t charge money) I always worry.  Maybe it’s because I have a very low self esteem (I was raised in a time where everyone didn’t get a trophy for showing up).  Maybe it’s because I’m a geek and an introvert and do have trouble in social situations.  Maybe it’s because I’m a teacher and have been told how worthless what I do is- over and over and over again.  Second child? Possible. there are lots of reasons, but in the end it’s my problem, and I just hope I do the best I can. MINIon #0055 gave me more than enough information to draw a MINIon.  Enough, in fact, that I almost redrew Cecil when he was cosplaying trying to cover every geek group possible.  In the end I went with the number- 55 for inspiration.  For those in the MINI community you know that even though every MINI is a MINI Cooper – that they all have a numeric designation (the first MINI was the R-50, I drive an R-59, Sue drives an R-56 and the latest model is the F-56).  The R-55 was the Clubman, one of the many MINI designs that “ruined the brand forever”  😉  The Clubman is the one that’s a bit longer and has barn doors instead of a hatchback.  I have no problem with it, frankly- it’s one of those hidden gems in the MINI line. Besides the R-55 this MINIon works in aviation, and is a pilot… the plane he flies (hopefully) is the one in the MINIon’s hand which also has the number 55 in its name (I may need to change the color after this posts).

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0643

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Bruce
0643Sun Wukong, the monkey king…. c’mon you knew he had to be a MINIon. In college I actually took a few classes (they were required to graduate since I didn’t  play sports).  One was “World Literature” which, at the time I thought would be a little different.  So when I got the reading list with books like “A 100 Years of Solitude” and “Monkey” it made me realize I wasn’t on Ceti Alpha V anymore.  I did learn enough to be able to drop a few titles in the middle of a conversation so I might sound well read, when Star Trek references didn’t work.  I did actually enjoyed some of the titles, including “Monkey” a retelling of the classic Chinese tale “The Journey to the West.”  No Cecil was not modeled after this character, but then again, the subconscious is a strange thing.