This episode was based on a single tweet - details here.

A discussion developed in response to a friend's post about the security of entries here on OPW. I worked through my current understanding of the Key/Lock system here on a comment thread, and thought I would repost it here, publicly, for reference. Tom, if 1. You see this 2. it's accurate and 3. you are so inclined, feel free to copy and/or link to this post for reference. I'm happy to edit this post if that proves easier.

* * * * *

Let's assume I lock ALL of my posts with stop light colors. I would do that because I don't want Google or John Q. Public to be able to read what I write here. If I DID want that, I could just make the post "Public" and all the world could see them. At least that's my current understanding.

But I don't. I lock them all for the purposes of this scenario.

Posts that are pretty friendly to everyone get a Green Lock. I create that here: https://onepostwonder.com/friends# under the _New lock_ link. Posts that are only for close friends get an Yellow Lock, and of course, posts that show my Deep Dark Secrets and are thus only for my singnificant other get a Red Lock.

Then, I can give each person the correlating keys to the locks I want them to be able to open. I would do that for my imaginary friend Jane Doe here: https://onepostwonder.com/users/ImaginaryFriendJaneDoe and clicking on the _Give keys_ link under her her profile info.

This system allows for really accurate filtering, and kudos to Tom for using it. As I see it, the only 'down side' is that it could theoretically get pretty complicated over time if you had a lot of situational locks that you wanted to create. So while I don't use the system I described above, my system isn't far off.

* * * * *

Side thought: I just realized that I have no idea if/how 'hidden' response comments are to posts. ie - if I have access to my imaginary friend Jane Doe's entries, do I get to see responses by people I have no access to?

My gut reaction is yes, that I _can_ see those responses, but I'll have to double check.

I had the good fortune to have brunch with the lovely Miss Knapp this morning. As is often the case after spending time with creative people, this has me on a bit of a high and feeling very creative / inspired / wanting to be productive.

So that’s the mood I was in when I hopped in my car and started heading back down to Maryland.

All of that is backstory to explain where I got the idea to create a Knappucino’s for Illustrators.

So here’s some thoughts I’m working through to see if this would be a worthwhile venture:

1. Would it be worth it for me? What’s my objective here? I mean, the arts are generally not a side hack you want to start if you’re looking to get paid. You either go all in, or you go home. There just isn’t room for ‘half way’. But maybe money isn’t the point. It’s certainly not what triggered the idea. The idea was feedback from the audience to the artists. Much like the original Knappucino’s wasn’t so local unknowns could get paid, but rather that they could try things out with an attentive audience who cared about such things. It’s a different starting point than most gallery showings I’ve come across.
2. Do artists want feedback? I know that I want feedback, but maybe I’m an oddball? Maybe it’s more of an illustrator thing. Since we tend to be more mercenary about our work than fine artists, the audience opinion matters more. Or at least, their feedback should. 
3. Do I want to invest this kind of time and effort? I know that Jill put a lot into the original. Perhaps much of this was emotional effort (I don’t want to presume to speak for her) but I have a pretty simple live right now. Chop wood, carry water. Repeat. More possessions and more activities create more stress. This is something I have to pay attention to.
4. Would I want to do this as a ‘pop up’ concept? A long time ago, I came up with an idea (I wasn’t the first) to do pop up galleries utilizing unused strip mall space. Getting folks to come through would potentially lead to business for the mall property owners, and it would provide me with free (too much to hope for?) space for the shows. This seems like an obvious extension to that idea. Would that just be making things overly complicated though?
5. How would it work? Simple is obviously the name of the game. At least to start with. So here’s my rough idea:

5a. I would try to control the flow of the audience through the space. Nothing super rigid, but creating a ‘direction of travel’ will help with some of the other elements we’ll find below.

5b. No artist’s statement. Start with the art.

5c. At the end of each artist’s section, there are printed forms for the audience to fill out. The forms are crazy simple: 3 questions to direct the flow of the feedback (see also: the Start with This episode dealing with Feedback - https://beta.prx.org/stories/273387) AND a space for people to write in their email address if they want to join the artist’s email list.

5d. Rinse, repeat for each artist in the show. (Initial shows would be kept to something like 3 or 4 at most - because KISS.)

Anywho - that’s what my brain is chewing on right now. Oh, that and the charity illustration I’m doing. Speaking of which - I should really get back to that now.

I know - most of you probably left that particular platform a long time ago. I was still poking my head in pretty regularly, and as it happens, I was on it today. I was checking out the pluthera of goodbye posts from others who were swearing that they would remain until Google kicked them out and barred the doors.

Then I hit refresh on my browser and got the screen above.

Well, it had plenty of problems, but I am genuinely sorry to see it go. I did pull all of my posts and upload them to MeWe, but it's not the same. What's more, some of the content (some images, etc) didn't translate over. So I'm cleaning up old posts that don't make sense anymore.

But with that said, I was a little surprised to see that I was on Google Plus for 8 years, and that ain't nuthin.

For any who are curious: mewe.com/i/mattlichtenwalner

I created a FaceBook Group (groan) for my coworkers and myself. Just those of us who are 'grunts'. Working at a job like ours, it's suuuuper easy to feel alienated and alone. This was a little way for us to band together for everything from support in work stuff to telling random funny stories that the others would appreciate.

It's one of the (very) few reasons I check back into FB occasionally.

Recently, someone posted to the group and asked about "Ultimate Road Music". They didn't give much in the way of stipulations. A bunch of folks dove in and presented what I think is a rather excellent list of music.

While much of it is what you might expect - classic rock is a high percentage of the list - there are a lot of gems that I either didn't know or had forgotten.

Instead of doing any one of the million things I should be doing right now, I just took a bit and sorted through all the comments to compile a list of all the recommendations. Since it has a very 'mix tape' feel to it, I thought I would present it here for your enjoyment.

Feel free to add to the list if you've got something that has to be added!

Individual Songs
AC/DC - Are You Ready
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
AC/DC - Riff Raff
Allman Brothers - Midnight Rider
Allman Brothers - Ramblin Man
Animals - It’s My Life
Arlo Guthrie - City of New Orleans
Billy Joel - New York State of Mind
Black Sabbath - Fairy’s Wear Boots
Black Sabbath - Neon Knights
Black Sabbath - War Pigs
Blackfoot - Highway Song
Blackmore Night - Locked Within the Crystal Ball
Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
Boston - Peace of Mind
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
Buffalo Springfield - For What it’s Worth
Cake - The Distance
Canned Heat - Going up the Country
Christopher Cross - Ride Like the Wind
Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through the Grapevine
​​​​​​​Credence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary
Crosby Stills and Nash - Marakesh Express
Cyndi Lauper - I Drove All Night
Damn Yankees - High Enough
Darryl Worley - A Good Day to Run
Deep Purple - Highway Star
Depeche Mode - Route 66
Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing
Eddie Rabbit - Drivin my Life Away
Elvis Presley - Hi-Heel Sneakers
Eric Clapton - Let It Grow
Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
Fleetwood Mac - Gypsy
Focus - Hocus Pocus
Foghat - Drivin' Wheel
Freddy Jones Band - In a Daydream
Gary Allen - Highway Junkie
Get Set Go - I Hate Everyone
Gladys Knight - Midnight Train to Georgia
Golden Earring - Radar Love
Gordon Lightfoot - Carefree Highway
Grateful Dead - Truckin
Hank Snow - I've Been Everywhere
Heart - Straight On For You
Honeymoon Suite - New Girl Now
Howlin’ Wolf - Highway 49
Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills
Iron Maiden - Wasted Years
Jackson Browne - Running on Empty
James Taylor - Carolina in my Mind
Jefferson Airplane - Wooden Ships
Jimmy Buffet - Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
John Denver - Travelling Song
John Deniver - Country Roads
John Deniver - Leaving on a Jet Plane
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Johnny Cash - I've Been Everywhere
Joni Mitchell - Circle Game
Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand
Led Zeppelin - Dancing Days
Led Zeppelin - Tea for One
Led Zeppelin - Ramble On
Lee Clayton - Silver Stallion
Lindsay Buckingham - Holiday Road
Linkin Park - Castle of Glass
Lulu Santos - Como Uma Onda
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Call me the Breeze
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
Megadeth - Peace Sells
Men At Work - Down Under
Metallica - Wherever I May Roam
Molly Hatchet - Boogie No More
Montrose - Bad Motor Scooter
Motorhead - Going To Brazil
Nat King Cole - Route 66
Outlaws - Green Grass and High Tides
Pantera - Cemetary Gates
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
Prince - Little Red Corvette
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Rare Earth - Born to Wander
Ray Charles - Hit the Road Jack
Rise Against - Ready to Fall
Roger Miller - King of the Road
Rolling Stones - 2000 Light Years
Ronnie Milsap - Prisoner of the Highway
Rush - A Passage to Bangkok
Rush - Red Barchetta
Rush - YYZ Slayer - Seasons In the Abyss
Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild
Steppenwolf - The Pusher
Steve Miller Band - Jet Airliner
Sting - Desert Rose
Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song
Sweet - Set Me Free
Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere
Tesla - Comin' Atcha
The B-52s - Roam
The Doors - Horse Lattitudes
The Doors - Riders on the Storm
The Eagles - Take It Easy
The Mamas and the Papas - California Dreaming
The Marshall Tucker Band - Heard it in a Love Song
The Proclaimers - I Would Walk 500 Miles
The Way - Fastball
The Who - Who Are You
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Walk on the Ocean
Tom Cochrane - Life is a Highway
Tom Petty - Running Down a Dream
Tom Petty - Time to Move On
Tony Bennet - I Left My Heart in San Francisco
Tool - Sober
Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
Traveling Wilburys - End of the Line
U2 - Where the Streets Have No Name
Van Halen - Poundcake
Waylon Jennings - Honky Tonk Heroes
Waylon Jennings - Lonesome Ornery and Mean
Whitesnake - Love Ain't No Stranger
Willie Nelson - On the Road Again
Yes - Rhythm Of Love
ZZ Top - I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide
ZZ Top - La Grange

Whole Album Recommendations
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
Metallica - Black Album
Metallica - Unforgiven
Pink Floyd - Animals
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd - Division Bell
Pink Floyd - The Wall
U2 - Actung Baby

Band Recommendations
5 Finger Death Punch
Avenged Sevenfold

ETA:
New Additions from OPW Folks
Beastie Boys (See below)
Black Sabbath - Johnny Blade
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die
Black Sabbath - Psycho Man
Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla
Blue Oyster Cult - Veterans of the Psychic Wars
Deep Purple - Space Truckin'
Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again
Depeche Mode - Nothing
Don Felder - Heavy Metal
Eagles - On the Border
Eagles - Witchy Woman
Eagles - Victim of Love
Eagles - Heartache Tonight
Eddie Grant - Electric Avenue
Golden Earring - Twilight Zone
Nazareth - Crazy
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magick (entire album)
Sammy Hagar - Heavy Metal

Just a little something I cooked up since I just finished the first dozen characters for one of my clients. It's nothing really, but I thought he might be able to use it for promotional purposes and the like. Figured I would share it here in case you guys were curious. 

If any of you find yourself curious enough to want to try the game out, it's available on DriveThruRPG:

Tall Tales! Core Rules (Note, this does not contain any of my art, but is required for playing)

Tall Tales! More Classes (Note: This is available as a Pay What You Want product, does contain some of my artwork, and is a supplement to the Core Rules.)

I recently mentioned that I'm working on my plans for my illustration work. Well, I've put up a pretty big (for me anyway) post over on my site. If you're interested in such things, I welcome any thoughts you have on the subject.

So I just watched a preview for S2 of Runaways. It's a Hulu Originals series based on comic book characters in the Marvel Universe.

I (of course) devoured the first season in the blink of an eye.

S2 is being released Dec. 21st. Which made me think: Are they releasing it right at the holidays in order to slow peoples' consumption of the episodes? I imagine that's a real problem these days. Companies dump all this money, time, and effort into a season of shows and then the consumers go through it in a very short span of time.

That would mean that the buzz / hype / social media blitz that they (the companies involved) might be looking for would last an equally short span of time. Sure, there will be outliers who will talk about the show in 3 months, but they will be just that - outliers.

THAT, in turn, got me thinking - how could you combat that problem? How could you get a longer 'bang' from your buck with a series like this?

The thought that occured to me was that you could build in game design elements. Puzzles (or puzzle clues) within the show that would mean nothing at the time, but then you (the company) could release something pointing people to those clues over time. A Time Released Alternate Reality Game of sorts.

Then, if you make the prize something really worthwhile - say a guest spot in an episode of the following season (which people wouldn't know until after the prize was won, of course) the hype you could get from such an event would be five fold: 1 at the airing of the show 2 during the hunt / release of the puzzle clues 3 when the fan wins the game 4 during the following season and 5 when media reports come out following the guest appearance in the subsequent season.

Sometimes, my ADHD is kinda cool.

It's a sad day for me. I don't normally care much for talk of celebrities and I often feel there's a 'falseness' to people discussing the deaths of those same celebrities. Maybe that's too harsh. I believe that those people are sad, but I'm always struck by the thought "It's not like you knew them or anything."

And it's true to say that I didn't know Stan. Never had the chance to meet him. But the things he created and the characters and worlds he developed were, in a word, significant in my life.

I've always been a Marvel guy when it came to the Marvel / DC divide. You could fairly easilly argue that Stan was the reason for that. Back at the dawn of the comic book era, people created characters that were like gods. Powers well beyond those of us mere mortals. And then, along came Stan.

When he (and Jack Kirby) created a character named Peter Parker, he made a bridge between we mortals and those gods. Peter had problems that we normal folks face. School work had to be done. He couldn't talk to girls. He was bullied. He was like... me.

Peter faced those challenges. Often, it required making realistic and terrible decisions. He suffered like the rest of us, and often worse than most of us.

But he fought on, and would rise above.

Stan created a new form of mythology. One that we saw ourselves in.

He gave us Hope.

I never met you Stan, but I feel I owe you something I can't even really put into words. So I thank you - as deeply as I can - and I hope I can one day help even one person a fraction of the way you helped me.

Excelsior!

I just had a rather fantastic encounter at my local coffee shop (Peet’s). I had settled in to do some catch up work on art stuff. I had just finished a commission for my buddy Krishna. His wife asked his daughter the age old ‘If you could have a super power, what would it be?’ thing. When they heard the result (a modification of Elsa, of course) K commissioned me to draw it up. The result is above.

Anyway - so I’d just finished up the image, and a family came in with a little boy who can’t be older than 8. I noticed the printer paper in front of him with... are those comic panels? And pencil drawings? Why yes. Yes, they are.

”Are you drawing a comic?” I asked.

He was a bit shy with the big hairy stranger, but with a glance at his mom (grandma?) sitting next to him, he said “Yeah.”

”Well that’s awesome! This is what I just finished!” at which point I turned the iPad to face him and clicked the play button on the time lapse video for the image.

His jaw dropped and his mom started Oooh-ing.

We proceeded to have a conversation about art and comics and I introduced them to software he could get for his iPad and of the very concept of ashcan comic books. He’d said that he was doing them and keeping them to himself. I explained that (if he wanted to) ash cans would let him keep the originals and still share copies with his friends.

The whole family seemed delighted.

For a while now, I have been in seventh heaven listening to the sounds of the little boy quietly narrating his comics to himself as he works. Both dialogue and (far better) sound effects keep coming while he’s drawing.

He’s not playing on an iPhone. He doesn’t have his own laptop here. He’s not watching Youtube. He’s drawing. With pencil and pen on paper.

That. Was. Me. When I was a kid, and it’s just so very good to see as an adult.

* * * * *

In case anyone’s curious, this is the text for the commission:

"Here is what M told me she said: "If she could pick any magic power she would pick being the princess of ice and snow mountains and being in control of fire. And she hopes one eye was clear and white and one eye was red and orange"."

And here’s a link to the time lapse video of the process - https://photos.app.goo.gl/YQEXkK1kQEe4DHw47