Warning Low Battery

Oh finals...how I hate them. With the help of evening naps and caffine I should be able to make it through. Only 2 finals remain! I had my Rhetorical Theory final early this morning and I'm pretty sure I did ok on it. Like usual the teacher likes to put an obscure extra credit question at the end of tests. This one asked for 4 lines of a song or poem about Rhetoric. I'm not sure if there is such a song or poem so I just made a couple up and hope they count.

Aristotle's Rhetoric
The faculties of observing
through your mind are curving.
For any given case,
right behind your face,
persuasive means are whirling.

Quintilian: In Briefs
Quintilian, Quintilian
He's one in a million!
He might be good,
he might speak well,
but with that yell his pants they fell.
Hey, his underwear's vermillion!

In case you didn't know Aristotle defines Rhetoric as "The faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." And Quintilian was a Roman rhetorician who came up with the Vir Bonus Doctrine, which stated that Rhetoric is a good man speaking well.

Soooo Close!

Did I really never post any of the pictures from when I was playing with a copymachine? If so I don't see any.

To follow up my last post, Nocturna is amazing. Aside from finding a copy on the internet or tracking me down and demanding to watch it, you'll have a hard time finding it. But I've already seen it twice in the short time after I got my hands on a copy. You know a movie is good when visuals and music rank high on the list of reasons why you love it.

Sorry for the lack of arts. School has got me all bummed. After a little reflection on the idea, I think that I tap Happiness whenever I do art. If I look back in time it seems that the happier I am the more art I produce. While some things are awesome, other things manage to ruin everything. Mainly Japanese class. A combination of an obvious mistake in choosing a concentration for my major, a poor choice of classes, and my attempt to get a minor have all forced me into taking advanced Japanese classes. Sadly I hate these classes, they make me feel like a failure which makes me dislike the class, which prevents me from improving, which then makes sure I continue to feel like a failure. *sigh*

To end things on a more up beat note, this is a picture of my nephew sticking it to the man at 2 months.
Needless to say I'm so very proud.

Filmax

Holy shit! By sheer chance I came across a couple of amazing trailers from this Spanish animation studio called Filmax. But don't take my word for it because you should watch them yourself...except for Rosemary who actually will have to take my word for it because her work is all anal about watching stuff at work.
Nocturna


Mr. Collieu


Why were these never released in the United States! They look freakin' amazing. From the little you can see they look as imaginative as a Hayao Miyazaki film, but coming from a very different imagination.

Speaking of Hayao Miyazaki, who's excited about his new movie? You know I am.

Art-Post-A-Day Challenge: Wild Card

Day 7: Wild CardThere was no theme for this final round, so I just drew whatever came into my head. I also used it as an excuse to draw in profile, because that can always use some work. If I didn't have to go read a shit-ton of boring stuff for school, I'd love to ink this and color it, but those are the breaks.

Before I go, I'd like to give a big shout out to Miss Melinda for creating such a fun challenge. Although it added to my heap of stuff to do I had a blast and got to create some fun stuff I wouldn't have otherwise. We'll have to do it again sometime.

Art-Post-A-Day Challenge: Hybrid

Day 6: Hybrid
Once again I'm running close to the deadline and am stuck doing a pencil drawing. Oh well. For some reason I had a lot harder time coming up with an idea for this one than I did with the others. Only one more day in the challenge remains!

Fellow Contenders' Day 6 Entries:
Melinda

Art-Post-A-Day Challenge: Halloween

Day 5: Halloween

Normally I sketch things out in pencil and then ink it, but today I am in a rush; a quick pencil drawing will have to do for today's art.

Fellow Contenders' Day 5 Entries:
Melinda
Kevin
Matt

Art-Post-A-Day Challenge: Self Portrait

Day 4: Self Portrait
Me and my monsters often chill at bus stops late at night.


Fellow Contenders' Day 4 Entries:
Melinda
Kevin
Matt
Greg

Art-Post-A-Day Challenge: Record Album

Day 3: Record Album

Who better to represent it than the creator himself, my main man Tommy Edison. I tried to make his name out of inventions. The E is a movie camera, the D & S are a stock ticker, the I is a light bulb, the O is a sound to electricity converter, and the N is a fluorescent light bulb.

Sorry about the lines, I had to do it in a school notebook between classes in order to have time to do it today.

Fellow Contenders' Day 3 Entries:
Melinda
Kevin
Matt
Greg

Art-Post-A-Day Challenge: Heaven

Day 2: HeavenConsider the idea of a 2-Dimensional person discovering wandering into the 3rd. I like to think heaven is a little like that.

I've also learned that I shouldn't have tried to pull this off using a giant bulky scissors. Clearly it isn't the tool for the job. Oh well. I'd better post now, I'm cutting it awfully close on time.

Fellow Contenders' Day 2 Entries:
Melinda
Kevin
Greg
Matt

Art-Post-A-Day Challenge: 25 Cents

I've joined my dear Cousin's challenge to post a themed piece of art ever day this week. Today's theme: 25 Cents.
My first thought of "25 cents" was a quarter, but I decided that if I turned it on its head and went with twenty-five pennies it might be more interesting. Now I must go do some school work. Seeya tomorrow for Day 2.

Fellow Contenders' Day 1 Entries:
Melinda
Kevin
Greg
Matt

Super Fast Library Comic

Yup so I decided to do a comic super quick for one of my library cohorts. While only the select group of Watzek Library workers will really understand this comics, I'm putting it up anyway. While a lot of it I hate because it is super crappy, a lot of it I like because despite my effort to do a sloppy job some things turned out nicely. When stuff turns out nice when you're going really quickly it means that something or other has worked its way into your skills, which is always nice. On the other hand things not in your skill set come out as well. Like pony tails. How the hell do you draw a pony tail from a view that doesn't actually show it? I made Hannah look like she has a super short hair cut instead of just having it tied back. Ughers.

I've also learned that it is now apple season. I just drank some absolutely delicious organic hard cider and before that Ms. Davis was kind enough to offer me an apple (also delicious). To make a long story short, apple season is awesome season.

Break Time

Ahhh can you smell that? It's the smell of Fall Break. Refreshing is it not?

Unfortunately Fall Break is coming to a close and now that the normal days of the weekend are here I must start doing work again. What a shame. Because Thursday and Friday were break days I decided to not do any school work over them. Sure it would have given me extra time to get school work done, but I thought about it and came to this conclusion: F%$@ it. School gets me stressed and I've learned that my general well being is more important to me than scholarly performance. I'm sure I could get straight As if I wanted to put that much work into it, but if I did that I wouldn't be happy. All things considered I'd rather be happy; life is short.

So far Break has been a lot of fun as it's given me time to reacquaint myself with all the things I like. I did some doodling, read some comics, and even listened to 89.3 The Current. I found out that Atmosphere has a free album for download and that has been my official soundtrack for the break. For those of you who aren't familiar Atmosphere is a rap group of Slug and Ant (Sean Daley and Anthony Davis) from Minneapolis. This new album takes a different route than past ones in that they have a live band this time which creates an awesome sound. I know a lot of the people who read this aren't really into rap music, either because the sound doesn't resonate with you or possibly because your only exposure to it is through the mainstream crap. If you don't like the sound, well to each their own (but for the record Ant's sound has an amazing sound), but at the very least you should be able to appreciate the way Slug can construct a lyric or a story. For example:

"I've got a restraining order
against Satan's daughter
and I keep it at the bottom of this Jameson and water" -Shoulda Known

"My better half is mad at making magic out of canned goods
My tax bracket status got her questioning my man hood
My shorty got caught smoking weed at a concert
And if I smack em everybody treats me like a monster
My neighbors ain't doing much better
And we making competition instead of sticking together
Cant save no nest egg in fact this nest is rented
In fact that rent is late, wait
The money ain't here the raise ain't coming" -Guarantees

"I wanted to make a song about where I'm from
you know, big ups my hometown
my territory, my state but,
i couldn't figure out much to brag about
well, prince lives here
we got ten thousand lakes, but wait
the women are beautiful
to me they are
and were not infested
with pretentious movie stars
and it hit me man
Minnesota is dope
if only simply for not what we have
but what we dont" -Shh

Well I must be off to work now. After which I'll probably end up working on homework until I decide to put it away for the night and watch a movie before going to bed.

Peace.

Guess Who's Tired?

Hello all. I am not dead. However, when things at school get busy I tend to lose interest in a lot of the things I enjoy doing. I don't read books for fun or draw much, even though I really like to do those things. This is probably because while they are simple activities they do require energy and effort. Unfortunately for me energy and effort aren't things I have to spare. Fall break is coming up, so I hope to force myself to get something cool done then, but knowing me who knows what will happen. Chances are that I'll just relax and sleep as much as I want. Both options seem appealing.

The one thing I have been making a point to do is to go to Go Club every Wednesday. There's going to be a Go tournament in about two weeks so that should be awesome. Last time I took part I was still pretty green, so hopefully this time I'll be able to kick ass on a greater scale. Speaking of Go, if anyone ever feels like they want to play a game with me I'd be happy to take you on. Part of the fun of Go is that the handicap system allows you to have fun games with people of all sorts of skill levels. If you don't know how to play I'd be glad to teach you. It's really quite simple to learn the basics.

Perhaps once I get my thesis topic all settled and the proposal all written out I'll be able to settle into a school groove that will allow me to do more drawing. I certainly hope so. At the very least I really should try to get myself in the habit of taking more pictures, I see photo worthy things all the time after all.

Peace out.

The Holy g-g-g-GHOST!

Warning: I was too lazy to do much fixing up on this sucker, but I wanted to post it anyways. Eventually I'll get around to making it prettier.

So I've been up to my annual test to see whether or not I could do a Piolog comic that is better than the crap they actually put into the Piolog. I've got 6 out of my planned 10 comics all sketched out. This one doesn't really fit the pattern of stand alone because it comes from a story arc idea I had involving a plan to start a campus legend. It had a running gag of Lewis (the boy under the sheet) never knowing popular cartoons and Clara's (the girl) understandable bafflement. Since the Piolog only comes out once a week a story arc doesn't fit the theme, but who cares? I love the idea too much to care. I had another great story-arc idea involving Lewis' quest to create a dinosaur themed floor as well, what a shame. I probably won't get all those all done till I get to school. So far the verdict is I can indeed beat the Piolog competition...but you don't have to try too hard to do that much.

In other news today I went to the Minnesota State Fair for the second time this year. Here is a list of all the weird stuff I ate:
+Deep fried pickles
+Deep fried green beans
+Chocolate covered bacon
+3 sno-cones
+Beer that tastes like fruity pebbles "Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat"

In a related note I have a crush on the sno-cone girl. Sure I only saw her that one time and sure the only words we exchanged were business ones, but who cares! She gave me like twice as much blue raspberry syrup on that sno-cone and has won my affections in the process. Obviously it isn't a very hard thing to win.

My camera also came today so once I figure it out you can expect some pictures in lew of comics.

Perhaps I will expand on some things later, but as for the moment I grow weary of typing and will take my leave.

What In Who's Backyard?

I keep partially drawing comics and then stopping. Some little thing always gets in my way. Most recently was a writing problem where I just can't seem to think of the right dialogue to get it to work the way I want it to. What a hassle. However, I need to get my ass drawing more so while I'm playing around with a couple things I'll just draw whatever. Any suggestions? The more creative the suggestion the more likely I am to do it and post it.

Near the top of my To-Do-List is to find where the hell those remaining prize letters went...hopefully they remain in the material plane. I'm really not sure what the hell happened to them. Shameful I know.

I have just now realized the music I had pressed play to isn't playing...karma at work? I wouldn't doubt it.

Dreams Are Mean

Recently my dreams have been very cruel to me. Yesterday I dreamt that my sister way casting a fishing rod in the house and inadvertently snagged my arm with it and then proceeded to reel it in quite a bit. Trying to get it out resulted in the gross mutilation of my hand.

Then today I had a relatively bizarre dream. However, it did include a very cute women who I apparently knew for quite some time and we had a first kiss worthy of being adapted into a Hollywood feature film. And then I woke up. What kind of freaky imagination provides you with a back story to make you have a crush on a dream person, then shows you the dream person likes you as well, and then wakes you up to realize none of it was real?

Seriously, Dreams what the hell is wrong with you? Making me witness the painful mutilation of a body part due to my sister's incompetence with a fishing pole, only to wake me up freaked out and slightly afraid to go back to bed is one thing. But trying to break my heart? That is just plain mean.

Either my subconscious is a well meaning child who is incompetently trying to spice things up, or just a malicious asshole. Only time will tell.I have two comics sketched out, but I won't be able to finish them up until I finish this CPR certification class. So until then enjoy this doodle telling you the differences between porpoises and dolphins.

Circus Pizza+Usher=Hilarious

Wow...I usually don't post links to videos, but this is just too bloody brilliant to resist. Sure, the Circus Pizza robot singers doing Usher is funny, but to see the hillbilly bear singing, "I wanna make love in this club" is just too much for my humor circuits to take.

Rock-afire Explosion Covering Usher

"Might as well give me a kiss, if we keep touchin' like this
I know you scared baby, They don't know what we doin'
Lets both get undressed right here, keep it up girl I swear, imma give it to you non stop
And I don't care, who's watchin'... watchin'... watchin'
(watchin' watchin'... ohhhh... in this club, on the floor, baby's just makin' love)"
-Make Love In This Club by. Usher

Cursed

I think my letter endeavor is cursed. First I lost my inking pens, then after finding them I soon lost the envelope itself followed by the actual letter. If this trend continues I fully expect to drop dead of a mysterious illness. Then you will be responsible for gathering together a motley crew and investigating.

I got a bit bored today so figured I'd bother Carolyn with silly pictures. Because of her knowledge of Greek stuff I figured I'd go with a Greek monster. Soon after I realized that I have no clue how to actually draw a Sphinx. I have just drawn one and, obviously, I still have no clue. Maybe next time I get bored I can try to show the world how I have no clue how to draw a Gorgon.

Randomly:
Sure Death Race looks pretty crazy. But can it really hope to out-crazy the classic Death Race 2000?

Status Report

So usually I have some update by this time in the week, and here we are with nothing. I was working on one on Sunday to do a Monday update and I pretty much sketched out the idea when I got distracted. I started doodling little personifications of different countries which consumed my imagination and makes me giggle thinking about it. And then I was helping my dad move a bunch of stuff into his new place so that didn't help comic matters. Perhaps I'll get around to it tomorrow, but at the moment I am super sleepy and I think bedtime is in my immediate future.

A Rant About Hellboy II

I'm kind of bored at the moment, so I figured why not do a post on this here blog. It'll give me something to do. I was just reading the blog of a webcomic I like and he was talking about the things he was looking to in the new Hellboy movie. One of them was about how the new one is more of Guillermo del Toro's (the directors) vision than Mike Mignola's (the creator). That just strikes me as a bizarre thought. "Wow I sure do love Hellboy, but I sure am glad this new movie will be less in the style of Hellboy." Say what?

As my aunt Rosemary can attest I have a few problems with Hellboy II. Don't get me wrong, it is a great movie. The vast majority of the population will not have the same problems with it I did. My annoyances all stem from the fact that I liked Hellboy long before it was ever a movie. So the Hellboy I know and love comes from Mike Mignola's comic. The first Hellboy movie is my second favorite movie (Amelie is number 1) and that's because it sticks to Mignola's version. del Toro has a wonderful imagination and seeing the things he creates is a lot of fun, but Hellboy II sacrifices both the essence of Hellboy and plot to show those imaginative scenes. It might be an interesting take, but it isn't going to make it on my list of favorite movies.

People seem to enjoy that this new movie shows more of the monster world. However, Hellboy is all about a monster in the human world. Plots develop around the idea of the dark creatures that leak into the world of humans. If you want to see a movie about people in a world of monsters there are a ton of movies you can check out: Labyrinth, Neverending Story, Chronicles of Narnia, etc. Personally I've just always preferred movies that reinforce the idea that monsters lurk around in reality: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Signs, pretty much any monster movie ever made, etc. After all that's what makes monsters fun.

In summation Hellboy II is a fun movie. The creature effects/costumes are some of the best I've ever seen. There is a lot of fun humor in it as well. Just don't expect it to be like the first movie. Also don't expect the plot to be great...because it is kind of wimpy. If you've already seen Hellboy II and don't know what I'm talking about when I say the plot of weak, go see The Dark Knight. Then notice how all the action in that movie came from the plot and furthered the plot. Then notice how the same can't be said for Hellboy II.

Mike Mignola Interview
Ebert & Roeper Review

Half-Sibling Wombmates

I was reading the Wikipedia entry for Hercules when I came across a reference to Heteropaternal Superfecundation. Apparently it is possible for a women to give birth to fraternal half-sibling twins. Obviously it is quite rare, but still pretty interesting.

The entry isn't very long so I recommend checking it out. Give yourself a factoid to boggle some minds at parties.


"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Then dreamt about in your philosophy."
-Hamlet Act 1, Scene 5

Batman, I Think I Love You

So rarely does a movie shatter my expectations. The Dark Night obliterated them. Now be sure to understand that my expectations were high...very high. I adore Batman Begins so obviously I was excited about this one. Plus the trailer looked amazing, I've only heard great things about it in reviews, and the casting looked spot on. So you should be aware of what I mean when I say that the movie far surpassed anything I could have hoped for. It has made me remember why I love the Batman story so much. Media has clouded Batman with goofy villains and techno color, but these movies strike to the heart of why Batman has such a strong footing in modern day mythology. In case you haven't seen any of the reviews The Onion A.V. Club always has the best reviews of movies. Check it out here.

Thinking about modern day mythical heroes makes me think of Superman, but why is that? Why Superman is higher than even Batman in that mythology. He sucks. Seriously, think about it. He can't be hurt, he can do anything, and he isn't even a human! Even the mythical heroes of long ago are more engaging than Superman. Hercules was a god, but even he was a more human character than Superman.

On a final tangential comic related note: I beg of you all, Stop supporting Frank Miller. He is the only media presence that I openly refuse to support for any reason. For those of you who don't know Frank Miller is a writer and was responsible for the comics Sin City, 300, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns*. I don't know why any one would want to see his new movie after seeing the trailer for it, but just in case Don't go see The Spirit. In case you don't know why you shouldn't help Frank Miller make money here are some good arguments.
Number 1 - a little comic that pretty much sums it up
Number 2 -the wrongdoings of Sin City
Number 3 -an example of how Frank Miller turned a smart capable women into an object and also a sample of Frank Miller's script that shows how sleazy he really is.
Number 4 & Number 5- a hilarious mocking of Frank Miller's most recent Batman comic. In the words of the mocker, "Frank Miller is still completely off his tits, and his ongoing 'fuck you' letter to comic book fans everywhere is still just as hilariously awful as it's ever been."

*I've read Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and it is nowhere near as good as it is made out to be. Sure it played a part in helping people see that comics can be more than kiddie fare, but Alan Moore's Watchmen did the same thing. Except, of course, Moore used such things as plot, characters, and amazing writing to do this and Miller mostly relied on shock value.

Dinosaurs Love Jam

I gotta side with the girl on this one. Jam can be pricey stuff. Just think about it. Let's say you get yourself a real nice 12oz jar of jam for $6. That's 50c an ounce. 128 fluid ounces in a gallon. So that means that jam is worth $64/gallon. And people think $4/gallon for gas is high. No wonder dinosaurs have to resort to stealing the stuff, poor little fellers.


Randomly:
Dear Mark Tatulli,
In regards to today's Heart of the City comic strip. Did you really think drawing two characters, small enough to easily fit into one panel of a weekday strip, and then placing them on either side of a giant Sunday panel was a artistically pleasing idea? You didn't even bother to draw a background, you just put in a blue gradient. And all for the sack of a simple spinal tap joke? Were you just super lazy this Sunday or what? Usually I enjoy your strip, but for Pete's sack man, put some effort into your work. No one wants to open the Sunday Funnies to see something that a 4 year old could cut and paste on photoshop. If you'd rather spend your time doing other things than working on your comics maybe you should step down from your newspaper post and let someone else in.

Envelope #1

Wow. I received a response letter from the first, and only (sorry guys) prize letter I sent out. I should get on the next one. I was nearly finished with it and then my sister had her baby and it slipped my mind. I'm nearly done with it though, just got to put on the finishing touches. Just to give the other prize winners a taste for what's in store here is a scan I did of the envelope art I did.

I blurred out the address so you bums wouldn't attack them with junk mail...although I don't know why you would. I always have fun when I pull out my kiddy watercolor set. I'm not very good with it, but at least the results are usually interesting. I also like when I can think of a way to fit my initials into the drawing so I don't have to just sign the bottom. It's just so hum-drum.

Hey, I'm 3 for 3, so far this week...wait, Hold My Drink Reginald beat the 12 o'clock mark so that was still Saturday. Damn...well, I guess I'm still 2 for 2, in terms of weekday updates. That's still pretty good.

Will Jesse be able to get another update done for tomorrow? Who is this new foe? Will Maria's evil twin stick Carlos with the check? Tune in tomorrow for the answers to these and other exciting questions!

Hot Bod Yellow

This idea popped into my head today, but my first thought was that someone has had to have done this joke before. It's just too simple to have not been done before. Either way I like it.

Watch out for Yellow, fellas. He is a sexy beast and the ladies can't resist.

Hold My Drink, Reginald!

Guess who found their inking pens! That's right, it's me! I also found a comic idea sketched on a scrap of paper.

Although if I had stuck to the scrap's script it would have ended with the line "Take my hand, the Negaverse awaits!" and would have started with illegible words. I just had to use it because the character design for the weirdo makes me laugh.

I want to say more, but I can't think of what else to write. How annoying.

Past & Present

Recently I've been assigning my self one small part of my room to clean everyday. That way it won't be such a daunting task. Today's job was to clean out underneath my bed. While I was under there I came across one of my old sketch books. It was chalk full of embarrassingly horrendous drawings. So, naturally, I thought I should show scan a few to share with you.
Yup. And remember these are the cream of that crop. The rest of the pages are filled with images so shitty I can't bring myself to show anyone else. My favorite being a picture I did practicing doing proportion stuff. It features a little dude with just plain ridiculous proportions and in my excitement at completing such a "great" picture I drew him saying "Wow I'm getting it." Obviously he was far from getting it. The only thing worse than bad pictures is distinctly remembering that you had once thought that picture was awesome.

Then I came across a notebook I had completely forgotten about. It was a little sketch journal I took with me to work last summer. I used it to write down little thoughts with an image to go with it, or sometimes I'd doodle characters to help pass the time on the bus.
I mostly picked some of the character pics because while the silly stuff still cracks me up it requires explanation from me in order to get the joke and I don't want to bother. The late night bus stop haiku, however, is self explanatory. Unlike most old sketch books I actually like a lot of stuff in this one. The most interesting thing is that the stuff I've been drawing now looks nothing like this. Let's take a look at my current sketchbook so you can see what I'm talking about.I hadn't even noticed the shift between trying to do somewhat realistic stuff to more cartoony work. Also why on Earth do the comics I post look worse than my sketches? That seriously doesn't make a whole lost of sense. My only guess is that I'm insane or that I secretly hate you all and thus want to injure your eyes

Ok well I should probably eat something and then get back to work cleaning off my bed.

Distraction

These are a few of the things that can easily distract me from doing anything productive:

+Friends
+Movies
+Bubbles
+Guitars
+Having a weird smell on my hands
+Phone calls
+Dreams
+Snacks
+Bizarre trains of thought
+Video games
+Internet
+Humorous books
+Animals
+Hot temperatures
+Humidity
+Crossword puzzles
+Thoughts on how I would have done that show differently
+Lost things
+Thoughts about the future
+Annoying bugs
+Shiny objects
+Sleepiness
+Go
+Skateboards
+Comics
+Babies

But in what order?

-----
oh and I have some stuff all drawn out, but I've lost my inking pens so I'll need to find them before anything else can get done. Stupid mess in my room.
-----

Time to do What?

What? Monday's coming up? Dang, I gotta go draw another comic. I do have one that I'm interested in doing, but at the same time I'd really rather practice guitar. I got a guitar for my birthday so I've been doing what I can to get to some level of skill, but it seems that is a far way off. There is a time and a place for everything and since Monday is going to be here in a few minutes that means I'd better get started on this sucker. Too bad I haven't figured out how to end it yet, eh? Oh well, I can think about it while I do the other panels.

See you all soon enough.

EDIT: Wow, I spent the vast part of today visiting my sister in the hospital, so I wasn't able to finish that comic. On the plus side I'm now an uncle to an amazingly cute little baby. Who knows what madness will come from having a baby in the house, but needless to say don't expect my stuff to be on time...not that you would. At least I have an excuse now.

!Happy Birthday Jesse!

Yes, today is the day I decided to move out of the cramped apartment of my mother's womb and into the big world. In 1987 on this very day I made my entrance to the planet, just as Canada did 120 years before me on the first of July, 1867. To celebrate I have drawn myself a comic. I'm just nice that way.Oh Mrs. Frizzle. She single handedly makes school worse by showing just how much fun it could be if only you had a magic bus and a magic lady. What a women. You'd better treat her right Mr. Frizzle, you lucky bastard you.

Now I know what you are thinking.
"What can I do to celebrate such an important day like today?

Here are some ideas for you,
-Shoot off some fireworks in my honor
-Dress up in a traditional Jesse outfit
-Take a moment to thank and/or curse your deity for my existence
-Sing Jesse Carols door to door
-Sleep in
-Wear a mask of my face
-Remember WWJD: What Would Jesse Do?

My plans for the day include treating myself to a delicious bagel, drawing on the sidewalks, wearing my suspenders, and eating ribs and malts. And so much more!

Beat That!

I just had a dream where I was hanging out with my friend Max, a chubby roller disco gangsta, and some weird nerd. Among other activities we all had to fit on a single bicycle because the nerd's mom wouldn't drive us and we all were wearing makeshift garbage bag rain coats because of the weather. The roller disco gangsta was my favorite part.

Ok I need I schedule. So here's the deal every Monday I will post a new comic. Every Friday I'll post some random bit of art. I know I've said such things before, but I'm going to try this time. It seems easy enough that I can stick to it. Hopefully. We shall see.

If I fail I'll pass out some hugs on the house or a prize of equal or lesser value.

Dreaming

My enveloping continues. Also I've been playing with sidewalk chalk. People will give you bizarre looks when you tell them you spent the day partaking of a child's activity, but it is a lot of fun. It's like legal graffiti. In fact I think I might go out again to do some more tomorrow. After all I think the only plan I have for tomorrow is to go driving with my mom so she can show me the route to the hospital in case my sister goes into labor and I have to drive her there. Which reminds me that I really should get back to work on getting my driver's license. I really don't care about it at all, but it would be nice to not have to deal with it anymore.

In other news I think I am a contender for most interesting dreams. Last night my dream had adventure, sex, zombies, wisecracks, knitting, an artistic montage scene, and a flame thrower. Just not in that order. Let's see you top that!

One letter remains! I'm almost done with these prizes.

One Done

I've pretty much finished the first of the prize letter's envelopes. I have also discovered that I should either stop doing envelope art or start doing more of it. I swear a fair amount of my favorite art has gotten sent out on envelopes. So is it better to have done it, or to have kept it? The best watercolor piece I've ever done was on an envelope. This one is looking pretty awesome as well. Oh well. If they look good then the prize is all the better, eh? Once I get word from the recipient that they've gotten the letter I'll post a scan. At least now I've gotten smart enough to always take pictures before sending them out. Hopefully I'll keep this pace up and have all the prizes out by Wednesday.

Melanie's Birthday

I learned late that today (yesterday technically) is Melanie's Birthday! So I felt compelled to quickly do a comic for it.
Yes I had some scanner trouble and I'll probably post a better scan later on, but for the moment timeliness is somewhat important. Because she lives on the West Coast I still have like 20 minutes to send this picture to her and thus making it on her Birthday. Hooray!

P.S. I really want a snowcone now.

Father's Day!

Hey all you manly Father's out there. What's crackin'? Hopefully not your back you old codger, you. I don't think any Fathers read this, but it is better to be save than sorry.I continue my all-out ban on store bought cards this year, but I didn't give myself much of a head start and ended up doing a quick job on it. The weird gray streaks are because it had already been folded into card form before I scanned it. In the end it doesn't matter though because anything hand made is better than a store bought card. How much do they charge for those things? I bet it's over $2, which is silly. I realized while writing the idea for this joke that no one would get it, despite this obvious flaw it amuses me...and in the end isn't that what truly matters? In case you are one of the people that don't get it the joke is "Jeans"="Genes". If you did get it you should give yourself a pat on the back. I'd do it, but you aren't around. You only have yourself to blame for that.

EDIT: I gave the card to my Dad and he totally got the joke first try! Well done, Pops. Kudos.

Only 4 Years 'Till Next Time

While the first day of Jury Duty was amazingly boring, yesterday and today haven't been too bad. I should inform you that if you get selected for Jury Duty don't listen to other people and try to say things to get kicked off of a jury in the selection process. People who don't get put on juries are pretty much guaranteed to have to stay the full 2 weeks or more. Be warned.

If there was something weird about the trial it was the attorneys. The Prosecutor's named was Judd. Surprisingly it actually fit him. His suit was always wrinkled and misfitting. The creepiest thing was his fake smile seemed to mask a hidden evil that wished to break free. Plus he was annoying as hell. He repeated everything. When asking potential jurors questions he asked everyone the same questions and said he was sorry for being repetitive. He repeatedly apologized for being repetitive! How does that make sense? Besides all these things he was a pretty awful lawyer so go figure.

The Defense attorney on the other hand was nervous, stumbled in his speech sometimes and on multiple occasions misspoke in a way that incriminated his client; only catching the mistake a few sentences later.

The Battle of the Novice Lawyers!

Let me tell you, it is really quite bizarre to hear "Taco Bell" be mentioned in a trial. Especially when it is mentioned a lot. If it had been filmed you would have thought there was serious product placement going on. Apparently that Taco Bell's parking lot is a hot spot for trouble.

Another point of notice: although the opening and closing statements of the lawyers sound a lot like speeches you are not to clap when they finish. I very nearly made this mistake after an awkward silence confused me. Luckily someone said something and thus stopped me from making a fool of myself.

Also a note to whoever runs the jury assembly room: please update your games. Trivial Pursuit from 1981 is extremely difficult. Especially entertainment questions. I do not now, nor have I ever known any Lucille Ball trivia. The old game did, however, teach me that the singular of "graffiti" is "graffito"...which just seems so wrong.


Oh so I found some stupid think on the internet today where people were supposed to create dialogue for their comic...although they were responsible for putting the "BANG BOOM" sound effect in. After they mentioned that the last panel featured their character naked in a tree I couldn't keep my immaturity at bay.I'm still giggling at the term "STDed".

Alrighty I'm sleepy and need to stop writing. This post is already massive, so I doubt you'll mind.

State of Minnesota...Why Do You Hate Me?

I've learned that I'm in an abusive relationship. I love them, but they treat me like dirt. Damn you, Minnesota! Why do you scorn me? In exchange for my affection I get sent to Jury Duty. For those lucky people who have never had to do this before let me sum it up for you.

Jury Duty = Being forced to sit in a room from 9am-4:30pm every weekday for 2 weeks and only getting $20/day for it.

I'm sure I've mentioned the selection of weirdos you get on Amtrak, but I've discovered that to really get some weirdos you just need to take a random selection of the populace. One woman there was trying to do everything she could to get out of doing it. Apparently she:
+Has a bad memory and thus isn't sure if she can remember everything
+Has diabetes and thinks she'll have to leave for frequent breaks to get nibbles
+Will have to take a bus, which she's never done before, adding to her anxiety
+Not sure if her "urban" dress will be appropriate (Answer: Yes, your reeboks, jeans and polo shirt are fine)
+Dislikes cops because they pepper sprayed her and her friends for being a bit rowdy as they walked down the street. Also "they be tazin' everyone all the time".
+And has to work evenings so she'll just might be "fallin' asleep all the time".

Also I dropped some eaves onto some preppy white kids' conversation as they listened with rapt attention to one kid as he described the intricacies of his iTunes star rating system. His rating is such an elite system that only two songs have gotten the highest honor of the 5 star rating. He says he doesn't listen to a lot of rap, but Kanye West is an exception. His songs all have 3 stars and a few even have 4! [I should note that if Kanye West is far from remarkable. For good rap I recommend Atmosphere, Sage Francis, and Brother Ali.]

I tried to get a comic done, but that damn room sucked out any motivation I might have had. Turns out I need input while I work to get things done. It is quite hard to keep your mind on fun silly things when you've been sitting in the same room for hours and still have hours to go. Hopefully you'll accept my ranting as a replacement.

I've been addicted to a couple of songs recently. I can listen to them again and again and just not get sick of them. Here are links in case you're curious.
Pogo's Alice
and any song by Karmella's Game

Technically...

So technically I did do some art for Saturday, but it's for a prize so I can't post it yet. When the recipient gets to so will you! Envelopes are super hard to do. You have to dedicate space for all the addressing crap and that means you either have to incorporate it, or work around it. Never fear, I'll have something put up for today later on at a less ridiculous time.

In other news I have to go to Jury Duty on Monday. What's the deal with that? I haven't even voted yet and I still have to go? Lameity. Oh well. As long as they don't make me stay there for too long it shouldn't be too bad. I'll just have to bring my sketch book and try to get that day's comic done there.

Updates Return

My idea of doing a long thing this month isn't going very well, so screw it. Let's bring back the daily updates, shall we? Without school and my dependence on their scanners it should be a lot easier to do. Today's was done quite quickly, but I'll put more work into tomorrows.Except for the last panel this conversation actually happened between my mom and I. I tried to explain how to copy something and she said she needed to go write it down. She has been using a computer for years now and I have no idea how she does it. My guess is sheer willpower. But bless her, she keeps at it despite the frustration computers cause her.

The Offer Has Expired

Just an update to let you all know that the special non-posting apology offer has ended. 3 People responded. The members of this lucky trio will all receive a letter from me featuring envelope art and everything. While everyone else is reading their junk mail and bills these lucky souls will be able to enjoy that great feeling that comes with finding an actual letter in the mailbox.

Letters are kind of funny don't you think? I mean in this day and age they are pretty rare, but something in our culture has created a special place for them. Just think about the image of Charlie Brown sitting by his mailbox waiting for a Valentine, or the torment Calvin went through when he knew his propeller bennie was coming in the mail and ran home everyday hoping it had come. They're romanticized as well in other mediums as well, just look at all the letter writing that went on in Pride and Prejudice. Words have power. When an idea is written down it holds importance and power, because it has permanence. You can always go back and see what it said word for word. Speech doesn't have the same power, things that are said are bound to be forgotten or at the very least faded over time. People love letters, but they never send them. How odd.

June Action!

Well today is the first day of June and thus the start of my June goal. This month I will attempt to make a 10 page comic story. I figure that averages out to me doing a third of a page every day, which seems doable. I'll give it my best shot and hopefully it won't suck ass. I haven't started anything yet so everything about it will have to be done this month.

In other news time is running out on your chance to get an apology prize from me for lack of posting [see last post for details]. So far only two lucky readers have shown up and with some luck I'll get around to their prizes in a somewhat timely manner.

Now if you'll excuse me I should really get cracking on getting a semblance of a story together.

I Haven't Forgotten...Yet

Yes I've been neglecting this blog and I'm sorry. It is only because of a lack of content to post with. I'm working on something right now that I'm almost done penciling and I have grand plans for June. So let us see where that goes.

For those of you who still check this site all the time and have your smiles fade upon discovering my lack of content, I'm going to make it up to you. Send me an email at daemonkryn at gmail with "I Read Your Crappy Blog" as the subject line. I will then send you further instructions to receive a super sweet prize. Offer ends in one week.

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to listen to some Animorphs: The Radio Drama Uncensored while I try to finish some pencil work so I can get to inking tomorrow.

No More

And it seems this post will mark the last of my old Facebook art. Now I'll have to think of something else to use until I look more into the purchase of a scanner. I guess I could do some stuff on the computer, but I really don't like doing things that way. I'm trying to learn how to draw stuff right the first time, so I don't much care for the idea of using a computer program as a crutch. I can see how it would be a useful tool, but I don't want to be the type of person that can only create with a digital instrument.

I also need to start brainstorming places to look for a job. Because I'll be my own worst enemy if I'm not given tasks to occupy my time and force feed social interaction into my life. Most things I can think of require previous experience of some kind or another. Like...a coffee shop for example. There are tons of those around. Too bad I actively dislike coffee and don't give a shit as to the differences between different kinds. How about hard labor? When asked to do this I always feel like an idiot, because I never seem to know what most people do. My brain is hardwired differently.
"Hey fasten these plugs to the baseboards."
"Ha, what if you could fasten things to bass...like the sound? So some car would be thumping and it would be carrying off the dude's stuff on accident."
"...Just get to work."
"Uh...yeah, about that. A baseboard is what exactly?"

Too bad I can't shelve books or something. Monotonous jobs are kind of fun because they let me space out and think about whatever weird shit comes into my head. Monotonous in the sense of addressing envelopes or putting books in the right order...not like monotonously scrubbing feces or something.

And on that note I'll call this post sufficient.

Oops

Hmmm forgot about this ol' blog for a little while.

I'm quite sleepy at the moment and I lost a drawing I was working on when the program messed up which is unbelievably irritating. Blah. Plus the job I was hoping to get again this summer isn't looking for more help this time around so phooey.

Well I'm going to head on off to bed now. Yak at you all later.

P.S. This pic wasn't done any where near Thanksgiving

Minnesota: Bringing Sexy Back

Minnesota!

For those of you who don't know this already Minnesota is fucking awesome. I have yet to visit a place that rivals it. It is an extraordinary combination of nature and urban spaces.

Sadly my predictions for the train trip were off. I did not see any Amish and the only weird people was the guy with the weird accent who worked for Amtrak and kept moving people around and the Southern army guy. I giggle to myself every time I hear someone refer to Northern people as "Yankees". There was a bunch of weird Southerners at Kansai Gaidai and they are just the weirdest people. Waving their confederate flags and still talking about the war. Let it go people. Seriously. The Civil War ended 143 years ago. It is just plain silly.

It is nice to be off that train. 36 hours is a long time to be stuck on a train. Especially when the seats aren't very comfortable, even if you can spread across two of them. Still a lot more roomy than on an airplane though.

And my new laptop battery was here waiting for me! I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but the battery for my laptop suddenly died for no reason. Luckily, thanks to Max, I was able to get another one for free.

Looks like I'm almost out of these little drawings. I'd better get to work on something else. In the very near future I'll be looking into buying a scanner so that will solve a lot of my problems.

Wishing You Were With Me

Hiya folks.

I'm currently on a train.

Well to be technical I'm in my room testing out this delayed post thing. If you're reading this on May 11 then that means it worked! Hooray!

But knowing the train like I do, I can predict what I am currently up to. Reading a lot of books, listening to music when I get too bored of reading, occasional bouts of Sudoku and sketches, and lots of naps. There is a high probability that everyone on the train will be insane. There is at least one Amish person on here as well. I'm probably wishing you were here to help me pass the hours...the many, many hours.

Peace out cool cats.

Pac-King? I don't follow.

Taking a little break from packing here to put up a post for today. I've finished packing the big stuff and now I'm onto the stage in which I throw little things haphazardly into my bags.

Blah, still have to finish that up, get some generic cleaning done, return this library book, buy some snacks for the train, and then get my ass over to the train station to spend 36 hours on a train. Needless to say I'll be out of contact with the world. Well, I guess I'll still have my phone with me so that is a lie, but still.

The school year is over!

Asleep on the Job

Hmmm...it would seem I completely missed posting yesterday. Sorry about that. I had my last final yesterday and although it was the one I studied the least for and in a subject I've been known to be poor at I still consider it my best final performance of the bunch. After that I went to go sell back my school books. Sadly they wouldn't take any of them. Reasons varied from "We've already bought back all the copies of this that we'll need" to "We aren't buying this one back". So I left with an armful of heavy books and a lonely wallet. I went to work for a bit which would've been a lot more fun if it didn't entirely consist of checking books in. I am not even over exaggerating here. I'd check in a huge pile of books, go magnetize them and put them on the sorting shelves. After returning from doing that there'd be another huge pile of books waiting for me. When I got off of work I had missed the bus and so I walked home. Going without sleep for awhile and having to carry heavy books all the way home left me pretty exhausted. So I crashed on the couch which then turned into sleeping on the couch and me waking up the following morning.

And that should explain my lack of posting. I'll post the images today in a grand post of epic proportions.

Randomly, I've found that Digimon: Tamers is actually superior to Pokemon. There is actual character development and the real life consequences of monster fighting are made apparent. Plus the parents are actually worried about letting their little kids go on dangerous journeys by themselves. Oh, and the plot has mysteries in it as well. Now I love Pokemon and if they would step up their game and make a show with...I dunno...a plot! Then they could win, but I doubt that will ever happen.Ok, I'm off to go make some french toast to fuel my upcoming packing efforts.

P.S. I drew this Hugtastic image for someone I haven't talked to in about 2 years and only casually before that. Why? Because unlike a lot of people they have that weird Graffiti application and I was curious if such a random act would get a response. But sadly it didn't. I'll have to keep sending random people pictures until I get one.

Stop The Room I'd Like To Get Off

I'm so very tired and yet there is still a final left for tomorrow. Ugh.
All righty that's all for me folks. I'm going to go crash now.

Let's Run Away Together

Ugh. Finals. I had to give a speech today and it did not go well. I had the thing down pat, but I got super nervous and mucked it up. Oh well. The good thing about finals is that the relief at being done with the class makes up for any failure.

Well at least the alphabetical order in which I've been posting these crazy pictures has decided to give me two stinkers at once. How thoughtful.

*shudder*

Sorry about those. Actually my two least favorite of the bunch. Who would have thought they'd team up to gang up on my ego? Certainly not I. Ok, I can't bear to look anymore, I'm off to write another paper. Hopefully it will be easy and I'll get done super fast...not bloody likely. It is pretty sad that I'm actually looking forward to the 36 hour train ride.

Minnesota Where Art Though?

Oh that big headed boy, where on earth did he get those fish? The world may never know. I have my own theories as I'm sure you do as well.

Looks like my last post managed to make it before the midnight mark which means I'll have to post today to keep the streak running. I made my first trip to Powell's today and picked up plenty of reading material for the train ride back home. I have a final tomorrow, which I'm not too worried about, but will require some preparation work on my part. What a hassle. I just want school to be over.

That desk drawer really is made of wood and I may never rid myself of the shame of forgetting that.

Also, I lied earlier in this post; this was actually my second trip to Powell's. The first one resulted in me getting lost and returning to the bus stop in shame. Schoolmates and Oregon natives love to laugh at my over this. Geography and navigation are two of my worst subjects, I cannot stress this enough. Never ask me for directions, because I will not know. And if I do know I know in such a way that will not make any sense to you.

"Go straight until you reach that weird looking building and then take a right at that corner I always turn right at."

Data Graffiti

Well I haven't been drawing comics recently so this hasn't been much of a Comics Blog has it? But I have still been drawing. I've been planning out an actual comic story to do over the summer. Also I've been doing weird doodles on this crazy ass Facebook program that gives you piss poor tools to use, but is kind of fun because of that. I figured I might as well post some of those pictures for you to see. There are quite a few of them so I'm going to space them out over the next few days so as to give the illusion of regular updates.
Alrighty, that's enough posting for now. I'll put some more up tomorrow.

Bugs...WTF?

The fact that bugs and parasites exist is proof that there is something seriously wrong with the world

Take the parasite Cymothoa Exigue. It goes into a fish's mouth feeds off the blood of its tongue until the tongue dies. It then attaches itself inside the fish's mouth and acts as its tongue.

Why the hell is that allowed to exist?

Or how about the Emerald Cockroach Wasp? It stings a cockroach and paralyzes it.Then stings it again in the brain. Actually a very precise spot. It hits the part of the brain that controls the escape reflex. So even though it is being attacked by a freaking crazy wasp it doesn't care. The wasp then eats the cockroach's antennae. The wasp then pulls the roach back to its den and lays an egg in its stomach. The egg then hatches eats the roach alive leaving the vital organs for last. Then after that it uses the husk of a roach as a sleeping bag and forms a cocoon inside. All the while the roach doesn't give a shit because its brain is all screwy.

WAAGGH! I'm officially freaked out. It is all too damn creepy for words. Next time someone says how horrible people are ask them if they've ever eaten another person's tongue, then climbed inside their mouth to take over the job. Or laid eggs in another person's stomach.

Hopefully their answer will be "no". If it isn't you should probably get the hell out of there.

A tongue parasite? Seriously? There is something wrong with the world.

Puppets Are Jerks

Just a public service announcement to be on the look out for puppets. Those stringy little bastards are dangerous.

I'm really not sure how this photo came to be, but I find it amusing. Some people might not put up a picture of themselves being attacked by a "Raggedy Andy" doll, but I am not some people. Also I don't care what a certain mother might say, I was a weird looking baby.

"Why iiisss his head so big? Whyyy's his head so biiig?"
-Gir

Stupid School

Well I have some time to kill here at school so I might as well put up an update. It'll probably be some time before I get another comic up, because it is hard to find the drive to do them when there are projects and papers that must be done. However, I don't want to leave everyone hanging so I suppose I'll just keep up these little posts to give something a keep you occupied for a little bit at least.

I'm definitely looking forward to the end of the semester. These has been a pretty damn blah sort of semester and getting back to Minnesota sounds like a pretty sweet concept. An even sweeter concept to think about is Lunch, but I won't be able to enjoy that until a while longer *sigh*

I'm at school right now so I can't really scour my files for a picture to put up. I'm looking through the storage space the school gives me to see if I've put anything of interest in there. The only thing semi-interesting is the song I made for that Electronic Music class I took last year. Although I warn you it is kind of weird. I made it in a video game sort of mood, so it is more random video game tunes than a real "song". Plus it gave me an excuse to use a bunch of Zelda sound effects I found. If you've never played any Zelda game you probably won't appreciate it as much. For the actual project I had to make a video to go with it, so I just ended up throwing a bunch of clips from the Zelda games and commercials together. I'm sure I have that video around somewhere, although I'm not sure where.

Click Me!

Hahaha, I haven't listened to that in a while. For some reason I can just hear some older woman teacher saying to her class, "Ok now, Class. Let's close our eyes and open up our imaginations and let it take us away!" Or something equally silly. You know you've had a teacher at one point in your life who says really weird stuff and gives you a "Wait...what? Did they really just say that?" kind of look on your face.

Actually I've long thought weirding people out would be an excellent punishment for kids. Little Jesse Jr. didn't do her chores and went out partying instead? Well then, guess I'll have to put on some bicycle shorts, a shirt with her picture on it, and some sweat bands then show up at her high school to give her a fresh pair of underwear. I'll bet they won't skip out on chores again...unless of course they've gotten used to such actions by then...sneaky little bastards. Also is there a law saying you can only have a kid be a Jr. if they're the same gender? Because it would be hilarious if you could.

Flat Spatula Arrow Head?

I was just perusing the pictures on my computer and I came across this one.

Damn thing surprised me. I'm not one to toot my own horn, but I'm loving the composition of this sucker. Well done me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have a cookie.