Author: trevor

LEGO Ideas Tron Legacy Review

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Lego Ideas Tron Legacy

The LEGO Ideas Tron Legacy set is finally here! We got it in as quickly as possible and put it together. Watch the video for full thoughts and lots of shots of the kit and minifigs, but here are some highlights: We didn’t find it to be a particularly challenging build – at 230 pieces there weren’t many surprises. But it has enough going on that it was a fun and satisfying build. The duplication of parts in this kit makes it a build that’s well-suited to multiple family members…

Texts from my Daughters

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texts

We’ve been slowly inching towards the day where the kids start staying home alone from time to time. There are a lot of reasons why they should. They’re old enough and responsible enough. That’s the primary thing. But eventually saving a mortgage payment’s worth of cash on daycare every month – that’s another. Watching them grow and self-actualize. Knowing that they’re in their own space, able to do their homework and tend to the pets and take ownership of the home in a cool new way. But I’ll tell you…

Productivity Guilt

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productivity guilt

Two holidays in a row, I’ve gone back to work more tired than I left. No matter how productive I’ve been, I can’t shake the feeling that my level of productivity was just way too low. It’s not like I haven’t enjoyed myself. March Break with the kids was excellent. We had some decent weather, one last snow, we got outside and did activities and made art and crafts and watched movies and played games and generally just had a great time. But this break, in spite of the fact…

3D Print a DSLR Camera Mount

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3d printed DSLR camera mount

We needed a very particular DSLR camera mount for our workbench – so we designed a custom one in Autodesk Fusion 360 and printed it out ourselves! I wish we had this when we were doing the PiGRRL Zero Unboxing video! Would have made shooting it way easier. You can find the STL file for the DSLR camera mount on Thingiverse right here!  

Seven Things We Learned Making a Video Game

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7 Things We Learned Making a Video Game

There is no reason, in 2018, not to make a video game. The kids and I made their mom a pretty awesome Christmas present that I haven’t taken the time to tell you about until now. It turns out that it’s a story that’s longer in the making than I realized. Some years back I made a bold claim, as I’m known to do from time to time. It was made on this blog, publicly, in an attempt to keep myself honest. 2012 is the year I make a video…

We Build a Lightbox for Drawing and Tracing – From Scraps!

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DIY Artist Lightbox from Scraps

 

We Unbox an Adafruit PiGRRL Zero Parts Kit!

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Adafruit PiGRRL Zero Parts Kit

We’re getting into electronics! When the Raspberry Pi Zero W came out, the kids and I tried to set up a Raspberry Pi to play games. As a console attached to the TV it never quite worked the way we wanted. The kids like the idea of the Game Boy Advance I’ve got kicking around the house, but there aren’t a lot of games for it that strike their fancy. So instead, we’re going to build our own handheld! We ordered the PiGRRL Zero parts kit from Adafruit, plus a…

An Argument With My Daughter, Paraphrased

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It is about ninety seconds before the children need to be out the door to go to school.  I find myself in conversation with my eldest. “Where’s the item that you take to school every single day?” I ask. “In the room that’s a mess because of my sister and I and the animals,” she replies. “Okay. Grab it please, we need to get you out the door.” “No. There’s a reason I won’t,” she says, voice rising. “In fact, I’m upset about it, as you can tell by the…

DadLabs Sent Us A Gift!

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Laser-cut Love Make Share logo

Nick, #cretindaddy over at DadLabs, sent us something in the mail. What could it be? SOMETHING FANTASTIC IS WHAT. Follow DadLabs! https://dadlabs.com/ https://www.instagram.com/dadlabs/ https://twitter.com/dadlabs https://www.youtube.com/user/DadLabs https://www.facebook.com/thedadlabs/

Fleenk-Shnert Means…

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love

“You know what the most annoying thing you do is?” I admit, I wasn’t quite prepared for that question from Sprints. “I mean, when you put it that way – no, not really,” I laughed. “But go ahead.” She looked me straight in the eye, laid down her fork, and said, “You tell us you love us, like, all the time.” It’s true, I admit it. I’m pretty relentless with the affection. But she’s my Sprints. The Artist Formerly Known as Little Fish. The one who, for a brief time,…

Conundrum Part II: Write a Novel With Only a Sketch to Guide You

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I’ve told people not to ever throw out unfinished creative work. Completed creative work that you really hate, sure. The experience of creation and evaluation is more valuable than the product, in that case. But unfinished work? The beginning of something? Getting rid of that is like cutting out the warmup before a race. Why not go into a massive undertaking, like, say, to write a novel, already having stretched your muscles? 2016 in general was a massive undertaking, full of significant changes. Many of those changes were achievements of one sort…

The Long Tale of “Backyard Jedi”

trevor

The kids and I have been doing videos about working on our Star Wars movie. I think it’s high time to tell that story. In April 2013, NJ and I had been dating for about two years. I had effectively moved in, and I had been interacting with the kids for about 18 months, but still hadn’t fully shifted into “parent” mode. It was very much NJ and the kids, and me. We had just brought Leo to live with us a matter of weeks earlier. Our little fstar waramily…