Graphics Collection from CD's Ultra-Fine House of Style

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

GC's ERA has gone up about two runs in his last three starts, to nearly 5. AG still isn't hitting well, unfortunately. But by the end of the season, I'm hoping that he'll somehow be able to do much better than he so far has done, if he gets enough playing time for the Misfits. We're not doing too well, thirty games into the season, as a GTL team. Especially on defense. But here are the Freemans' statistics so far, if you want to see how they've both done so far in the Good Times League they're each in now, prior to the May 4, 1901 games for that league. That is all. CD out.

[jg2977]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Please don't do any of these suggestions unless you cut down to just one league and concentrate on it... otherwise you are just wasting your time and other people's time.

1. Create a small league with two leagues... 10 teams in each... the winner of each league will play in the World Series... design the leagues and playoffs the way you want them play.

2. Pick 20 towns to be in your ONLY league.

3. Pick 20 teams from your collection of logos, jerseys and caps that your already have... if you do this, you will not have to waste your time seeking the utltimate graphics for leagues you will never completely create or play.

4. Once you have this league COMPLETELY set up and ready to play... and it is the ONLY league you are going concentrate on, I will help you get a simple and basic map of the country and I will help you get town histories for each town.

Please don't agree to do this unless you are willing to do it as my suggestions state... I am willing to help you, but only if you will not waste my time.

Yep. I’m only concentrating on one league now. My IPA gives me plenty to do. I’ve shelved my NHL themed dynasty for now. And I’m enjoying the game more now that I’m only playing one league. Any more than that would feel like a job and it would be too overwhelming.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I'm working on some town histories now for places in the Prokiruan Republic, finally. I think I have two of the necessary ones at least started, if not finished, for locations represented in the GTL for Prokiru. But I'll probably need to do up to ten more of them for certain places in that fictional nation very soon, I think, if nobody else helps me with them in the near future on these forums.

Different stories of mine may require different baseball-related setups when they're related to the relevant stories or the characters within those stories, but I'll still try to focus on only one dynasty at a time, just the same. I still haven't made any more progress with my current main story, though, of late. And there are several other currently-existing and yet-uncompleted stories that I definitely need either to write at least a bit more for, if not a lot more for, or to post already-written content for, elsewhere on the Net.

Writing down various things periodically is one of the specific personal talents that God ultimately gave me to use, I firmly believe, in order to do His work that He gave me to do as best as I possibly can with in this life. However, I'm still having some rather considerable trouble doing enough of it of late, to be sure. And I have largely been having that trouble for several weeks, if not for at least a month or two, unfortunately.

I know the stories will come when they come, Lord willing, of course. But it is still rather frustrating to have writer's blocks and all pop up from time to time, especially major ones, at that. I know what I would like to have happen in this current chapter that's giving me fits now, at least generally speaking, but I'm still stuck on its second scene, and have been for a while. I figure I'm about nine or so pages into a chapter that will likely need at least 20-25 pages for it, seeing as the chapter is still in the middle third of the entire story as it now stands.

If I can just get to the end of chapter 17, I think the rest of the story should be much easier to write, for then I'd probably only have one major chapter left for the story, that being the second-to-last chapter of the entire story in question. That chapter would have the final battle scene or scenes, and then the last chapter should hopefully wrap up the story well, and lead into the next potential one for a possible series of stories. Lord willing, of course, that is.

I basically know what I want to have happening in the rest of the story, for sure. But my getting from where I am now to the entire story's ultimate conclusion has yet to be fully worked out and written down and all. And doing so well enough to make it believable enough and logical enough and readable enough may be a real challenge for me here, I think, if I'm not too mistaken here, folks. There is definitely potential in this story, but it's still going to need a great deal more work on it to make it something worth potentially publishing for profit, in any case.

This current main writing project of mine is probably one of the most challenging writing projects I've ever begun work on, if not the most challenging one to date, in more than thirty years of writing off and on through most of my life. I began trying to write stories when I was fifteen, and have often spent countless hours trying to work on my skills and all. Yet, I'm still exhibiting a lot of the same bothersome habits I had when I was roughly a third of the age I am now, for sure. I'm not necessarily as bad on average now at writing as I was then, I believe, but I still clearly have a lot of things I still need to work on as a writer.

Sorry if this post seems too long for you and all, but I'm trying to get some thoughts out here to try to deal with some of the frustration I'm still currently having in relation to my writing and certain other creative abilities I've tried to work on improving for a while, every so often, in any case. I'll try to keep posts here shorter, and more germane to the primary intended purpose or purposes of this thread, but right now, I'm at least a little bit neurojumbled, so to speak, when it comes to certain creative endeavors of mine in my life. Not totally, mind you, but at least a little, for sure.

Thank you all for your time and attention and all here, everyone. Please pray that I'm better able to progress with creativity-related endeavors and all soon in my life, Lord willing and all, of course, then, if and when you like and can. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

CD, just do things that you enjoy and things that make you happy.
If you enjoy collecting logos, jerseys and caps for leagues you will probably never play, that is fine.

Just please yourself.

Take my suggestions if you like... or ignore them if you like.

I will still be your friend... you don't have to ever worry about our friendship.

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by jg2977

Yep. I’m only concentrating on one league now. My IPA gives me plenty to do. I’ve shelved my NHL themed dynasty for now. And I’m enjoying the game more now that I’m only playing one league. Any more than that would feel like a job and it would be too overwhelming.

Me, too... I am going to cut down my time on the IPA to a minimum... it takes me too much time to cover it in the Dynasty Forum... I hate to say it, but I'm getting tired of the IPA.

I enjoy the South League far more... I will probably concentrate more on it and not give equal time to the IPA.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I love reading the reports you do with the IPA, as you probably already know, you two. But you must do what you must do, as the Lord leads and all, you know. Just as we all do, if we're following Him to the best of our abilities in this life. I mean, we're all only allotted a certain amount of time in this life on this planet, after all. And this world is not going to be our eternal home, either. So we must each prepare for the life after this one, and do what we can to finish THIS life strong and stay on the straight and narrow road Home.

We must each run our own races just like Paul did, while still in our mortal bodies on this planet. Whether our races will lead us Home or not, only time will tell for each of us, no matter who we are in this world, for sure. Paul finished his own race strong, giving his all in the process, and he still awaits his just rewards as his body still sleeps where it does. One day, and probably very soon, I think, he will most certainly receive his just rewards for a well-lived life of faith, as will many others. But that day has not yet come for him and countless others.

Ultimately, the only thing that really will matter in the long run is whether we actually did whatever we needed to do in this life to the best of our respective abilities, in God's eyes, even as imperfect human beings in this world. And whatever we do or have done or will do in the future, we all have an increasingly finite time in it, before we all leave this world behind forever. No matter where we'll each end up for eternity without end, this world certainly will not be our eternal home, for sure.

Do what you must, you two, with your respective leagues and all, as best as you can, according to the Lord's leading, and I shall try to do the same in my own life, then. While I would really like to see either IPA, if not both IPAs, make it to at least one hundred seasons each, that may not be possible here, somehow, considering everything that we're certainly each having to deal with in our respective lives, guys. Time is growing short in this world for many things, and it is quite unlikely that we'll see 2030, or 2035, I think, before all that must happen in the near future does happen as it needs to happen, and all.

So let's do what we can to finish the work that God has given each of us still to do in our respective lives, to the best of our abilities, and trust in Him to keep us safe and protected and all, as He wills. Even if we do fall asleep prior to His return, let's still try our best to do His will in our lives, for as long as we can. His Word says, "He who endures to the end shall be saved," somewhere, I believe.

Thanks again for your time and attention and all here, then, you two. I'll write more later, as the Lord leads and all, if and when I can, you know. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I don't know if either of you have a bucket list with various items on it, whether done or not yet, but if I did have a bucket list, so to speak, of things I hope to do in my life that I haven't yet done, or even if I have done them by now, it would probably look something like this, at least in part:

1. Serve God to the best of my ability, first and foremost, in any way I possibly can.

2. Help people find the Lord in time, if possible.

3. Help my parents and others in my life as best as I can, for as long as I can, whenever possible.

4. Travel to Israel, Scotland, Peru, and/or Japan, at least, if I ever am able to travel overseas and return home easily enough somehow in this life, at least once in my life, if not more than once.

5. Learn to communicate to at least some degree with multiple languages in various ways, if possible.

6. Get something professionally published for potential profit at least once or twice, if possible, in at least one language, if not more than one.

7. If it is the Lord's will that it ever is possible somehow for me, then to get married and perhaps have at least one child with a lovely lady before my time on Earth is finally done.

8. See many of my friends from over the years again, no matter where they are, before my time on this planet is over, in peaceful enough situations, if possible.

9. See many of the things and visit many places I have likely never yet seen in my life in person, such as the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Liberty Bell, to name a few such things or places I'd love to see myself where they are.

10. Go spend some time revisiting places I may have been present at before, even if it's likely been at least a decade or two since I was last in those places, such as the parks I worked at when I was a corpsmember for the Minnesota Conservation Corps during the summer of 1991 for roughly eight weeks of time, for instance, if at all possible and all.

Of course, there are probably quite a few other things, at least, that I'd love to be able to experience for the first time, if I haven't ever experienced them before somehow, that aren't listed above. But the above ten things are ten things I really hope can happen for me somehow, at least. That's if the Lord wills they ever happen for me later on, just the same, of course, folks.

That's probably enough to talk about here. Or at least for this particular post here, anyway. While I fully realize that many, if not most, of those above-listed things may not ever happen for me in THIS life, I still hope they do somehow, Lord willing and all, to be sure. Until the next post from me in this thread, at least, then, I'll close this one here, I think. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

CD, that is a most worthy bucket list.

The first three should be on everyone's bucket list.

I strongly suspect CD will most definitely take care of the first three items.
Methinks, you have already done the first three.

The other seven have some pretty lofty goals, but as you know, we serve a Mighty God.

CD, At age 29 I was lonely and seemingly destined to a life without a wife... I dated, but the girls I liked, didn't like me... and the ones that liked me, I didn't like... I had reconciled myself to be a bachelor for life... but God had other plans... I was not a Christian at this time... however, I met this lovely lady, fell head over heels in love for her... asked her out, she accepted, we went to see the movie "M.A.S.H." at the Robert E. Lee Theatre in New Orleans on Friday night, July 22, 1970... that very night, after I gave her a sweet little kiss on her lips at her front door, I got back into my car... and non-Christian, agnostic, unsaved and non-believer EC silently says a prayer to a God he doesn't really know exists or not... "God, if you exist, let me marry this young lady"... lo and behold, EC and that lovely young lady were engaged in a month and EC got that young lady as his wife on the night of Saturday, January 16, 1971 at Calvary Baptist Church on General De Gaulle Avenue in Algiers, Louisiana... that's the west bank of New Orleans, across the river from the main part of town... we have celebrated over 50 years of wedded bliss now and are still counting... EC always wanted to marry a cheerleader and a Christian lady... and God arranged it.

CD, we serve an awesome God... all things are possible with the Lord God Almighty.

On #4, go on the internet and travel to Israel, Scotland, Peru and Japan... you can do it free of charge... #8 contact your friends by telephone at least... try to visit your old friends and the places you grew up in... #6 finish that novel... pick a language #5 and study a language on the internet... you can do it free of charge... just learn the basics... that would be plenty enough... be realistic, don't expect fluency.

And lucky #7... join a singles group at a church or online.

And maybe, just maybe... God has a lovely lady in mind for CD, too.

I hope all of your dreams come true, my friend.

[jg2977]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Me, too... I am going to cut down my time on the IPA to a minimum... it takes me too much time to cover it in the Dynasty Forum... I hate to say it, but I'm getting tired of the IPA.

I enjoy the South League far more... I will probably concentrate more on it and not give equal time to the IPA.

The other thing I'm going to do is retire all of my created players following this playoff season. I enjoy the IPA far more when I don't try to control things and I just let everything play out according to the AI. I guess I'd rather just be a spectator. I'll keep the two Freemans for CD's sake, but everyone else's careers are ending. I'll say that they signed with teams in the Japan league.

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by jg2977

The other thing I'm going to do is retire all of my created players following this playoff season. I enjoy the IPA far more when I don't try to control things and I just let everything play out according to the AI. I guess I'd rather just be a spectator. I'll keep the two Freemans for CD's sake, but everyone else's careers are ending. I'll say that they signed with teams in the Japan league.

The key to playing OOTP is that you enjoy it.
When it's work... it is not enjoyment.

I remember a thread on the OOTP Dynasty Forum 10-15 years ago... it asked the question, what is the most important thing in creating a dynasty thread and league?...

The best answer:
it wasn't a great concept or fantastic storyline... it wasn't great graphics... it wasn't to get a lot of viewers and have the best dynasty report.

The bottom line was "the dynasty writer must enjoy doing it".

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Actually, EC, on Duolingo, I am currently learning eight different languages, those being Spanish, French, Hebrew, Greek, Italian, Latin, Japanese, and Scots Gaelic, although I still have a lot to learn for them to be sufficiently conversant in them on average. Some I am trying to learn at least for story-related purposes, because at least every so often, I have characters in the same story or stories hailing from different countries in the world. If I ever start to try to learn another language or two on Duolingo, I'll probably start trying to learn Swahili or Klingon at least a little bit, if not a lot.

I envision Slaabinese to largely be some kind of blend between Latin and Japanese, with perhaps at least a few traces of other languages, like Russian for example, at times. I've been trying to develop it off and on since around the 4th of July or a little later in 1990, either while I was still at a youth camp called Camp Buckskin in northeastern Minnesota, or shortly thereafter. Camp Buckskin was where I first began developing the setting of Slaabovia and its people, et cetera, and especially my Clovidequano Dovatha literary character, if and whenever possible, in fact.

Lighting Up the Darkness mainly takes place in that nation's territory prior to it eventually becoming Slaabovia, but not entirely, in truth. Long story short, my narrator is present as CD grows up into adulthood, back in some version of the 16th Century AD, even though he has somehow been sent into that time and that land from some version of the 21st Century AD, for most of the story in question here. He even witnessed CD's birth and gave him his name, it seems, in the story.

There is still much of the story to write, but I still believe it could be a very good story if written and/or edited/revised well before I finish with its final draft sometime later on. Lord willing and all, of course, at the very least. Potential is definitely present already in the story, but it needs to be brought out and fashioned well for this to be a well-written story that covers roughly the first fifteen years of the lives of CD and a number of his likely-lifelong associates. Associates including his eventual wife, for instance, prior to them joining their people's present struggle to free their homeland from foreign occupation and all.

As far as you saying we serve a Mighty God, we certainly do, EC. That we do. As far as contacting most of my friends I've met in my life, I have lost contact with most of them, and don't generally know where they are or their current addresses or phone numbers, if they still do walk this Earth in their lives.

As far as who I still dream of being with as a potential husband, even after more than thirty years of knowing of her in my life, there is still a certain girl, now woman, I think of often more than any other. It is my hope, Lord willing, that I get to see her at least once more knowingly on both our parts, in peace, even if we can never date or marry each other in our lives.

Supposing, of course, that she's still alive, you know. Now I don't know if I will ever see her again in this life for sure, just yet. But she still is the one I love and hope for most in this life among women, Lord willing, seeing as she is and always will be my first love among mortal women in my own life. Even though I never really pursued her while we were attending the same school together, for various reasons, some of which you probably already know or can guess well enough here, Eugene.

Traveling in person to see various sights and people may be near-impossible, if not impossible, for me in this life for various reasons. But I STILL firmly believe that if it is truly His will, He will make a way for me to do so somehow in this life, even if it seems there's no way I'll ever be able to, as far as others may think and all. God is able to do anything He wishes, if we foolish humans don't limit what He can and wants to do for us all, for sure, Eugene.

Thank you for your kind words and all, as usual, and may you and your lovely lady continue to rejoice and thank the Lord for this wonderful day that he has blessed this world with, come what may for it here, for all those still on or above it, no matter who or where they each are. I try to thank the Lord every day that He allows me and those close to me to live in it, even if it is only silently in my heart and mind at times. Many times, I am rendered utterly silent by the depths of His grace and mercy and by the limitless bounds of power and majesty He has always possessed, does currently possess, and always will possess, in His entire Universes, both in the current one and in the one to come sometime later on, for sure.

Talk more later, if and when I can, Lord willing and all, most definitely. Again, thank you again for being my friend, EC, and I hope to finally meet you in person someday, even if it isn't in this life, if possible and all. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

EC, go to Search, then type in what you are looking for in the needed box. Then when you have it set for either Show Threads or Show Posts, hit Go. Hope this helps you out. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by Clovidequano Dovatha

EC, go to Search, then type in what you are looking for in the needed box. Then when you have it set for either Show Threads or Show Posts, hit Go. Hope this helps you out. CD out.

I have done that may times CD... never gives me a result.

Type "Terrapins" in the search box... choose "posts"... and then hit "Go".

You will get no results.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

There are 139 different threads with the word Terrapins now present on the forums, it seems, EC. I was able to do a search for the term, and found that out. I don't know why it's not working for you at present, though, to be honest. But I was still able to find the term, just the same. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by Clovidequano Dovatha

There are 139 different threads with the word Terrapins now present on the forums, it seems, EC. I was able to do a search for the term, and found that out. I don't know why it's not working for you at present, though, to be honest. But I was still able to find the term, just the same. CD out.

It worked this time... but it gives the threads that "Terrapins" is in... how do you go to the "posts" and page that it is on... is that possible to do?

I don't want to have to go page-by-page through the entire thread to find what I need... it would be nice to directly to the page that it is on... that would be a big timesaver.

[Eugene Church]

OK, I think I figured out how to get to the exact page that the search item is shown... I click on the search term "Terrapins" in one of the threads and it pulls up the exact page.

Thanks a bunch for your help, CD.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

EC, you first go to the logos, graphics, and html forum. Then search that forum by threads with the desired term or terms. Then choose a thread to search in. Once you have done that, search the chosen thread for the term or terms you are searching for. That will show you every post where the term or terms you are seeking is located in the relevant thread. Hope all this information helps you for future reference, and you can repeat it as needed in the future. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

There are no doubt more than 500 posts with the term Terrapins present in them on these forums. Maybe even in the Graphics Forum. So searching for Terrapins by posts may not lead to finding all such posts without searching by threads first. Just so you know, EC. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by Clovidequano Dovatha

EC, you first go to the logos, graphics, and html forum. Then search that forum by threads with the desired term or terms. Then choose a thread to search in. Once you have done that, search the chosen thread for the term or terms you are searching for. That will show you every post where the term or terms you are seeking is located in the relevant thread. Hope all this information helps you for future reference, and you can repeat it as needed in the future. CD out.

Wow... this is great help, CD.

Those are excellent detailed instructions.

Thank you.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

You can probably do the same kind of thing with any other forum here, I believe. Then drill down as needed, where and when needed, if I'm not too mistaken here. Meaning to go down each level as you might need to. Or even from the main forum, at that. It is probably better to search for a term or terms first by presences in at least one thread, if not more than one, then by post, especially with terms that may commonly be used on these forums, EC. That's if you don't do an advanced search, anyway, it seems to me. CD out.