The Drawing Board

Storms in San Diego (Or Why American Airlines Suck)

2008-07-24T03:18:03Z

Actually, because of all the storm activity on the East coast, a TON of flights were cancelled, including ours. And that was after we were on the tarmac for five hours in the hopes that we would be able to take off. And American Airlines suck because all they did was throw an 800 number at everyone and waved "Good Luck! You're on your own!" I remember when the agents would actually book you on other flights, even on other airlines if they cancelled a flight.

Jose and I are NOT in San Diego now and we might miss the show tomorrow too. If all goes well we'll be up and running by Friday.

I can't begin to tell you how aggravated we are about this. Every year it's something.

Guh... >:(

Just a little something before we go...

2008-07-23T15:24:30Z

I can't be the only one that realized this:

Is actually a sequel to this:

C'mon...

And now to build some courage for San Diego Comic Con:

Edit: Oh, and could you believe my assistant manager/manager had the nerve to "ask" me about taking a later flight so I could come into work today? (Oh noes! 4 people called out and I might be expected to actually work! And airlines work just like Greyhound, right?) I didn't even stop to ask if he was kidding. I just started laughing and left the office.

God, I am so out of that place as quickly as I can possibly make it.

Tomorrow

2008-07-22T23:15:12Z

Tomorrow it's me and Jose off to San Diego. We do this every year and I always get nervous the day before.

I'm still deciding about taking a costume but it's so hot and humid here it's clouding my judgement (the weather is supposed to be beautiful in San Diego the entire week of the show). I might pack it anyway.

I'm thinking about my color sketches and whether I might be able to get some done on the airplane to pad my premade "for sale" collection (and pass the time).

I can't wait to see our new banners. They're 10 feet tall instead of the usual 7. There's no way anyone is going to miss us in Small Press.

Don Ed Hardy will be taking over for Tokidoki as my muse for this year. I'll be the one in the trendy tattoo themed clothing for most of the weekend. Watch out for the Koi shirt! I had to fight a skinny wannabe model for that one! psst - when I complain about money this is why.

And Jose is a little confused that I post pics of my artwork but it's the post about my boobs that gets all the discussion. What can I say? Bras and shirts that fit are important. ;)

See you in San Diego!

Because we're special snowflakes like everyone else.

2008-07-21T02:15:39Z

Of course we went to see The Dark Knight.

Dear Eddie Bauer...

2008-07-20T19:08:24Z

You see these? *points at bosom* These are breasts. How is it that suddenly your line of women's button-down shirts are unable to accomodate them? I understand that for a split second you were running on that retarded "Medium is the new Large!" system and I could understand when a Medium no longer fit me. But I exchanged the shirt for a Large and was horrified to still find the buttons along the bust area straining so much to stay closed I looked like an Anime Pinup Girl reject (straight out of Fred Perry's Gold Digger to be exact).

What the hell? If I buy a larger shirt - which you do not offer by the way, the shirt will be too large overall and not fit completely as opposed to just the chest area. And if it's like the other shirt that I bought from you that was a wee bit too large, the mis-sized chest area will still pucker up and remain open like a gaping wound. And the rest of the shirt will just sag on my frame. Very attractive.

Dudes, I know I spend a lot of money on beautiful top of the line bras but that doesn't mean i want to show them off all the time!

I used to be happy that Eddie Bauer offered real Petite (meaning SHORT not SKINNY LIKE A 6 YEAR OLD) cuts that I didn't have to get hemmed but even there you are failing me as the last pants I bought from you I had to get hemmed. And your shirts had sleeves that were just the right length. But what the heck is going on three buttons down the front?! I now have to pin your crap closed just to be presentable and it's not like your clothes are cheap either.

Keep this up and I'm not sure we can stay together much longer which upsets me to no end because shopping for women's clothing that actually fits is such an ordeal. I can't and won't apologize for being short and curvy but come on. It's bad enough you don't want me in the stores as I have to buy Petites soley online but could you at least go back to cuts that actually fit? You've done it before! What happened?!

And then Jose wonders why I can't just shop anywhere for clothes. And that's not even counting the discussion that we could be buying the exact same thing in the same store but my clothes are three times more expensive. And that guys can always find "classic" styles (in their actual waist and length sizes!) while my side of the store is at the mercy of whatever trendy crap is hot right now as if I don't need regular cut pants for work or jeans that aren't cut all weird. And shirts that actually mean LARGE and not Hi! I'm a XS that's going to be marketed as the NEW LARGE NOW! I've seen dishrags larger than what some designers are passing off as an EXTRA LARGE! Holey Moley.

And BOOBS people. Women HAVE THEM. Make your goddamn shirts FIT THEM without me getting a FIVE INCHES creep up from the waist. Yeah, that's attractive too.

I really hate shopping. Bluh.

Much Better...

2008-07-19T03:10:30Z

Now this is what I consider important work.

Finally! A Volume 4 in my grubby mitts! This is my proof sample - we're shipping the books directly to the hotel from the printer. When I get the extra books at the house I'll list it for sale on the website. (OMG! Like AFTER THREE YEARS! WTH!)

And what's San Diego Comic Con without a last minute project:

My mother and I have been working on translating Tall Tails: The Peacekeepers into Spanish. Actually, who am I kidding - my Mom is doing most of the heavy lifting. I'm just copying and pasting and hoping I didn't mess up something because I can't really read it. We have the 6 page preview translated and I just have to finish replacing the text and making a little sampler to show around and get feedback on the translation work. I'm not making many, maybe 20 or so. If you can read Spanish and would like to help us beta test it (get your red pens ready!), just drop on by table K1 in the Small Press area and ask for a copy. My Mom especially would love to know what everyone thinks.

And as you can see, we decided to go with the much shorter title. :)

The Music in my Head Part 1

2008-07-19T00:42:53Z

Old Skool Anime Geek moment: I unintentionally squeed when I realized the video was an homage to Akira. *groan*

I don't know what makes me antsy more...

2008-07-18T22:41:05Z

San Diego Comic Con in less than a week, or my having to plan getting out of my stupid, boring job soon afterwards.

I already have to come in to cover for someone very early Sunday morning and they tried to get me to do the same thing today which would have me working a double shift. They even tried to guilt me into covering for someone tomorrow too. I told my other (temporary) assistant manager (who never concidered staying late himself) that he better be kidding or I was going to pop him in the mouth. He laughed, saying he was kidding.

I wasn't.

One person has already put in their two weeks and we're suspecting another is on their way out. Everyone else (including myself) is trying to transfer out but there's also a moratorium on transfers until the new manager becomes official (how convenient they didn't say anything out it until people started requesting transfers like crazy). It's easier just to quit right now.

I'm officially putting in my transfer notice when I come back - at least now no one can say I don't have training. My first plan is to go someplace closer to home. I really hate my commute time. At the same time I'm going to be ~~harassing~~ contacting a temp agency I've sent a resume to a month or so ago.

I've also started putting together my list of projects - my color commission (Now that Vol 4 is out of the way I can concentrate on this), a Tall Tails color one shot we're going to solicit around, Jose is already percolating the second story arc, and I'm finally putting the finishing touches on my Egoraven script so I can start laying it out (shit or get off the pot on that project!).

After the high of finishing #20 in two months, I want to be drowning in comic projects in the next 12 months. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned our little toy-line project yet.

I have never felt this focused before. The hate has got to go somewhere I guess.

Lettering

2008-07-13T16:49:12Z

Finished a little over half the book last night - Volume 4 will definitely be finished tonight then onto the printers tomorrow! Woo!

Need a second opinion...

Now I Know I'm OLD...

2008-07-13T02:24:07Z

I just caught some kids in the back alley setting fire to a box they probably picked out of the trash. They ran off as they heard my "WHAT THE FUCK...?" as I entered my backyard and caught a glimpse of the flames. They were gone and the alley empty when I returned with a pot full of water to douse the fire out (it was a small box with matching but spreading flame). I emptied another pot on it for good measure.

It's a good thing I paid attention to the smell of smoke. I was about to dismiss it as a BBQ but the smell was not quite right. The last time I smelled smoke like that someone had set fire to an abandoned car in the alley. I did NOT attempt to douse that one out myself of course.

Goddamn kids. And I don't even have a lawn.

Tall Tails #20 Preview Page 27

2008-07-12T05:29:14Z

32 / 32
(100.0%)

*passes out*

I am Jack's one last panel...

2008-07-10T03:02:29Z

No fear. No distractions. The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide. ~Fight Club (screenplay)

Caught Fight Club on TV today. It used to be my favorite movie until it got the "Holy Grail" treatment (i.e every douche within 5 yards would start quoting the movie at the sound of the title and start acting proudly like they came up with such profound statements. Dude - you're quoting a movie quoting a book (that i know you didn't read) and you're taking everything out of context. Shut up). Luckily it's been long enough that no one really does this anymore and I was able to watch it, enjoy it and remember why it was (and still is really) my favorite movie.

The "veterinarian" scene came up and I just nodded as I inked away at my page.

Watching the trailers for The Dark Knight makes me upset that American Psycho wasn't a better movie. Christian Bale was perfect as Patrick Bateman. That's another book that was taken a LOT out of context too although I still can't decide whether American Psycho or Glamorama is my absolute favorite book.

Boy - come to think about it, I haven't read anything in a looooong time. I'll probably pick up Fight Club again to reread. I had to get rid of my last copy in the great MICE ATE MY BOOKS purge a couple of years ago. Kinda hard to read chewed up books reeking of mouse pee.

Wanted to try out my new icon too. ;)

Last page upload tomorrow. The last panel has some background I need to really take time with so I'll leave it for tomorrow after work.

Almost! Almost! :D

Tall Tails #20 Preview Page 28

2008-07-09T20:49:46Z

31 / 32
(96.9%)

After making one of my deliveries at work, I came back not feeling well. Even after I took my lunch break and rested in my office for a bit, I still spent the rest of my day woozy. I felt better once I got home but when I started to feel that way again at about 4 in the morning I decided to skip work today. I figured the heat was finally getting to me and I certainly did not want to make another delivery today which I would have had to do. Do you think workman's comp covers heat stroke?

Well, okay - not funny - but at least I got to spend a quiet day at home actually working on important stuff. Got one more page out of the way which leaves me with ONE MORE PAGE!!!!1!10 I'm hoping to have that done or mostly done tonight. Everything has got to go to the printers on Monday.

I've also been putting together my ~~shopping~~ to do list for SDCC. I will be doing my color sketches along with selling books as usual. I haven't decided if I'm going to take a costume this year. I haven't worn my costumes in a couple of years and I'm really feeling like bringing the blue "Belle" dress again (now with matching sparkley cat ears!). Depends on how I feel and how much stuff I end up packing. Bad enough airlines are charging per bag - I don't need to add an overweight charge on top of that as well - wouldn't AA just love that though).

Trying not to go crazy with my MUST TO HAVE list - the new Tokidoki dolls will be available outside of SDCC so I figure I can skip picking them up at the con and wait until I get home (That baggage thing again). The French comics and the Japanese ~~hentai~~ art books can also wait if nothing really catches my fancy (I'm keeping my list specific to Blacksad and Urushihara books although I may have to get into a fistfight with martes if we find the Blacksad books at the same time ;) ) But if I come out of SDCC with only one thing, it will have to be this:

Clobber Monkey

I have been wanting this since I saw the prototype at SDCC last year. I will be ~~pissed~~ utterly dissapointed if this thing sells out before I get my grubby mitts on it.

Don't ask what the appeal is. I can't explain it to Jose either. I SO WANT IT though.

Edit: I just saw the SDCC website - 4 day / Friday / Sat passes are sold out with Thurdsay and Sunday already in the "yellow warning" zone. With SDCC two weeks away, what are the chances of the show being completely sold out by then? What do you think will be the consequences of that? It's not like the show can rent out any more convention space. Last year there were rumors of moving the show to another city (which I don't see happening) or adding days to it (which is crazy but possible). Wow.

Tall Tails #20 Preview Page 29

2008-07-06T21:24:46Z

30 / 32
(93.8%)

Two more pages to go... then lettering! Yay!ish.

Tall Tails #20 Preview Page 30

2008-07-06T05:31:44Z

29 / 32
(90.6%)

Skipping pages around again but al least i have everything sketched out except for one panel. I'm saving that one for last because of the background I need but everything else is ready for inks. I was supposed to start lettering today but realized that I didn't have a digital copy of the script. At least I used the time to finish my layouts and get another page inked.

Not bad - We should have this sucker at the printers by next Monday just in time. Kinda funny how a sense of urgency (not wanting to be embarassed at SDCC again!) suddenly gets a book done in record time (well for me anyway). :P

Last night I had started watching The Orphanage but had to stop because it was boring me. While I was inking, I decided to finish the movie. Nope. Took too long to get to the point. Still boring. And dumb on top of it. I still needed some background noise so I put in "Imprint" which is the Miike episode of the Masters of Horror series which they refused to show on TV. Well, I could see why (no spoiler version - If they had just left it at some woman's graphic torture no one would have cared and shown it without a problem) but even with the "controversial" aspects of it, the episode was really stupid and even more poorly acted. But then again, that's what I thought of the entire series anyway so it wasn't really special to begin with.

Good thing George Carlin's last HBO special It's Bad For Ya! and the documentary The One Percent were good (although the documentary really made me angry at a LOT of parts) or else I would have had to troll Youtube for more commercials to watch.

Happy Belated 4th!

2008-07-06T01:17:33Z

Hey - it's a long weekend! It still counts!

"Like Thomas Paine once wrote:
It's only common sense (only common sense)
That if a government won't give you your basic rights
You better get another government."

I heart James Lipton

2008-07-05T14:51:57Z

Although I'm still not excited over the new Hellboy movie. (Wasn't excited about the first one either).

Is it supposed to be sad that I enjoy commercials more than the actual shows they are tucked inbetween?

You gotta love a guy who comes off so full of himself even he can't take himself seriously. :D

Tall Tails #20 Preview Page 26

2008-07-04T23:19:35Z

28 / 32
(87.5%)

Ugh - nothing makes me sleepy like muggy weather. Damn the fireworks - I wish it would just rain and not stop until everything is nice and cool. I can't believe I have "just" four more pages. Oh look - It's under the wire for me again. It seems to be my favorite position. ;)

All the SDCC details have been checked and taken care of (although I should double check the hotel in about a week). Now we just need to sort and ship books and get new banners done. And print the new books too. Yeah, let's not forget that. At least this year we are staying at a REAL hotel so the shipping fiasco that happened last year won't repeat itself. At least that's one thing I don't have to worry about at all.

I really can't wait to get to SDCC - It's always nice to get away and there's some new Tokidoki dolls and French comics calling my name. (The store we visited in Paris is actually going to have a booth!) I'll just keep buying things until my shelves collapse ~~again~~. :D

Tall Tails #20 Preview Page 25

2008-07-03T14:16:49Z

27 / 32
(84.4%)

Hate the job - gotta go... Rather be inking... >:(

Tall Tails #20 Preview Page 32

2008-07-02T02:43:25Z

26 / 32
(81.2%)

Well, at least now I have a last page and more foreshadowing to confuse everyone. ;) Now I have six more pages to go. Luckily I found out today that I have Friday off so that's time I can really use. Nomatter what happens though, I am going to start (and finish!) lettering this coming weekend.

I also finally asked my mother to help me translate the series into Spanish (and later into Portuguese). Now that is going to be an interesting project. We're starting with The Peacekeepers since that's only one volume but I'm sure we'll both have our work cut out for us. My mother already started trying to translate just the title and the thing is now a mile long.

Tall Tails = Cuentos Extraordinarios De Las Nobles Melenas y Colas (literal translation: Extraordinary Tales of the Proud Manes and Tails)

"English is a very economical language," she explained. The title sounds fabulous when she says it though.

We are of course going to "market research" the crap out of this since another issue that came up is the difference in the Spanish from Spain as opposed to Latin/Central/South America. Good thing I have a group of friends from my previous employment I can pass this along to. If we can have this done for San Diego next year I'll be suprised.

I'm hoping that once we get the kinks out of the process I can convince my mother's friend to translate Tall Tails into French.

Awesome. :)

Tall Tails #20 Preview Page 31

2008-06-29T19:42:54Z

25 / 32
(78.1%)

Unfortunately, this page doesn't mean I've all of a sudden ended up on page 31 (I wish I were that fast!) It just means that I decided to skip ahead and do the 2 page final scene first. When I was looking through the last 8 pages, I realized that I had sketched out some of the last two pages although I haven't really finished them. Figuring I was pretty much ahead there I might as well finish and ink the pages even if they are out of order. Better out of order than none at all. A finished page is still a finished page.

These last two pages contains some foreshadowing of the next story arc, including a peek at some new characters. Yes - everyone asking if we'll see a dragon anywhere in the series can stop asking now. (Yeah, I really do get that question a lot!) :)

Just a small peeve

2008-06-27T13:59:54Z

I've been meaning to get off my chest for a bit:

Dear Producers/Directors of "Charlie Wilson's War",

Putting a stripper in a bellydance costume does not make her a bellydancer.

Thank you.

Tall Tails #20 Preview Page 23-24

2008-06-27T03:15:02Z

24 / 32
(75.0%)

Eight more pages - and I just realized that I never sketched out those last eight pages. Guh. I'm going to try to sketch out as much as I can tomorrow before and after work so I can plow through more inking on the weekend.

Wow - maybe by the end of this week I can letter this thing and finally put Volume 4 to bed. And with time to spare too!

Hmmm... bed... that sounds good right now...

They Even Have The News And Weather!

2008-06-26T20:01:10Z

Trust me, I really needed the pick me up that singing along to this gives me. And it made me remember their older commercials for Discovery.com:

My favorite:

Back to work.

Tall Tails #20 Preview Page 22

2008-06-26T19:41:49Z

22 / 32
(68.8%)

I was fortunate to get a day off today thanks to the cluster-f that ruined last weekend. I'm using today to really catch up - there should be another update of two more pages before the night is through. I also got the last of the SDCC con prep done. Our badges are registered and our table is K1 in the artist alley. I can't believe we only have 27 days left. =0_0=

On the job front, the new manager is finally making me feel like the assistant manager I'm supposed to be. It's interesting but at the same time I just feel so "meh" about it - like something is wrong about the entire idea. Jose warned me that he had gotten it on "good authority" that I am not in good standing with the company because of what didn't happen since I took the position last September. The first answer to pop into my mind was "So?"

I explained to Jose that I wasn't going to worry one bit about what he heard. I really don't care at this point. If I suck, they can feel free to transfer or fire me. I'm not going into panic mode over this. I'm already in panic mode over getting Tall Tails Vol. 4 done, and believe me, THAT is a more important project than anything this stupid company can dish out. If I'm going to sweat over something I am sooooo not going to do it over work anymore. While I'm at work, I'll get what I need to do done to the best of my ability, but outside of that I am not going to make it a priority.

After San Diego, I'm going to have to make some decisions. I am so "whatever" right now.