21 Jun 2018

My valuable old scribbled memo pads

If your house is on fire, what would you take out with you?

I have an experience of evacuation from 10th floor of a 12-story residential building. Suddenly, the emergency bell rang, and I heard the electronic voice "Fire! Fire! Evacuate immediately!"
I took articles of value, mostly public documents and bank documents, and CDs on which were copied my puzzle game programing, then got out of the building. The programing files were my treasure at the time. If I lost them, it would have needed lots of time to program again.

Luckily, it wasn't a real fire. One of the residents left a tap running and went out, then water overflowed, that's why the alarm system was wrongly set off.
If the house was on fire now, I would let my two cats get out first and if it's possible, I would take a folder that contains lots of memos.

This photo is for illustrative purposes, this is not my drawing.

I have lost lots of ideas before and as usually people do, I also felt like the ideas I lost were all awesome. The fish you lose is always the biggest, you know? I don't know why, but I always remember a fact that I forgot an idea and couldn't remember what it was. Therefore, I have started writing anything that comes up in my mind and keep all the memos in the folder. Even if it seemed like a trivial idea, I wrote it down.

I used to create lots of online jigsaw puzzles games before with moving pictures. I called it an animated jigsaw puzzle. For making animated jigsaw puzzles, I had to draw animated cartoons which repeat the same short movements. For example, I drew a girl who plays with a jumping rope or kids who play on a seesaw, otherwise the data would be heavy. It was long ago; the internet connections were not so fast like nowadays.

Now, I don't create any online puzzle games and I don't need new ideas for them, but taking a memo is my habit and I'm still doing it. I thought that those ideas would have a chance to be used for a different purpose.


This photo is for illustrative purposes.

Then, the time that I can use those ideas has finally come. As I wrote on the blog in April, I have been thinking to make automata. The movement of automata are repeatable movements. That means I can use my old ideas for making automata. I'm glad that I didn't throw my old scribbled memo pads away. I know that making virtual creations and making wooden creations are very different, but still I can use them.

The workshop where my family business (making wooden puzzles) runs is always busy and I'm not sure when I can realise my dream, but I will not give up on my dream.

Hopefully, I can show you my first automaton on this blog someday.

photo credit: fabola Perpetual Motion via photopin (license)
photo credit: fabola Curious Contraptions via photopin (license)

2 comments:

  1. I remember reading 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret', which is a little like a children's mystery novel of sorts. There is an automaton that is very important in the book, and I remember that after I read the book, I became interested in automata and silent film (another important topic in the book). I hope to see an automaton of your own in the future! :)

    It is very good that you kept your old notebooks. I have thrown some notebooks away before, or simply lost them, and later on I always wish I could go back and see what I had written or drawn. It can be just as interesting as reading a book written by someone else, because it is easy to forget all the ideas you had when you were using the notebook!

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    1. I love gears and I would like to make an automaton with funny-shaped gears someday.

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