Gonzogoose Roost

Yep, Still Busy

2012-01-25T11:04:00.001-05:00

I'm really sorry for the lack of updates, I've just had a LOT to do, and am still trying to catch up and finish everything. Been a bit overwhelmed actually. Work is just starting to pick up with some jobs flowing in slowly, but enough to keep me pretty busy.

Between that and the sites I run and the podcasts, it's all I can do to keep up with that stuff. I want to blog more, but honestly, I don't have much to add right now anyway, nor time to think of something cool to talk about.

So just bear with me a little longer and I'll get back up to speed here.

-B

Been Busy, Still Am

2012-01-17T08:59:00.001-05:00

Sorry for not updating sooner, it's just been busy around here. I have a few lettering projects on my plate right now, and some other things going on.

I also battled a bad cold on and off for a week or so, and it's still trying to settle in. Luckily it never latched onto me quite as bad as it could have.

This week is going to be SUPER busy trying to get everything done I need to. So I doubt I'll have much time for updates here for the next few days. So I definitely wanted to pop in and let everyone know what's going on so no one worries or thinks I've just quit blogging again. :)

Everyone have a great week, and I will try my best to make my way back here sooner than later.

-B

It's 2012... Now What?

2012-01-03T22:51:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody, Happy New Year! The holidays are now behind us and it's time to start looking forward to the year ahead and all that jazz.

I have to admit that I kind of took it easy over the holidays, which means I'm kind of swamped at the moment. This week is all about catching up and getting back on track so I can find some more work next week and start the cycle in earnest once more.

I trust everyone had a great holiday season? Mine was okay. I missed out on some stuff this season, once again, but maybe this coming holiday season will be different. We shall see.

We got no snow over the holidays, not one single snowflake. Yesterday, it started snowing here. Very little snow still, but the roads were bad for a few hours. We generally experience our coldest temperatures in January and February around here anyway. It's been below freezing the past couple of days. Yesterday I think it was like 24 degrees during the day. I hope we don't get any bad ice or anything this year.

But that's enough about the weather. This is a new year, so it's time to make the most of it, right? I mean, in our culture we look at the turning of the year as a fresh start - a chance to get back on track, reinvent ourselves, start something new, whatever floats your boat. I know it's arbitrary, and that's why resolutions hardly ever stand. Once the newness of the first week of January starts to wear off we realize it's just another day, week, month, year, and we fall back into step with what we were doing and how we were doing it. So I don't put much credence into the magic reset button as it were.

That said, I believe any day, or year is what you make it, and if you set that goal in your mind, to make this new year the year that you finally do this or that, then that's what it becomes. If you can commit to it and stick with it, then the sky's the limit, regardless of how arbitrary the changing of the year itself may be.

For me, I do have goals for this year that I fully intend to see through. Will I actually follow through with them? Some of them I absolutely must. Others could easily fall by the wayside. It's too easy to get caught up in other things and allow ideas to fade away into obscurity. But I personally am determined to make some changes this year. Changes with how I do things, how I handle things, changes in myself, without and within, and so on and so forth. I have certain goals set and I intend to achieve them.

2011 was not a good year for me. There were positives that came out of last year, don't get me wrong. Like finally having the surgery I so desperately needed. I formed closer friendships with a few people, reconnected with others, accomplished some goals I wanted to accomplish and some other things as well. So it wasn't all bad. But it certainly wasn't all good either. There were some really bad things that happened this past year that brought me down for quite a bit of it sadly. As hard as I tried to stay positive and persevere, sometimes the pressures and the stress got to me, and the weight at times seemed unbearable. But by the grace of God I got through it, and here I am staring another year down ready to tackle it as well.

So I have set in my mind that 2012, no matter what it holds in store for me, will be a better year, because I'm going to make it so. I understand I can't control certain circumstances that may arise, that may even curtail plans of mine and that may create obstacles, setbacks and more pressure and stress. Things like that are inevitable. But I refuse to let those things dictate the outcome of my life in this year ahead.

So wish me well, send me your prayers, and stand up with me. 2012 will be a banner year.

Now, next January we'll revisit this post and see how right I am (<--see, positive!). :)

-B

Home Sweet Home

2011-12-21T13:51:00.001-05:00

So I bit the bullet and redesigned the blog today, reclaiming it as my home base for blogging for now. And I kept it here at Blogger for the time being as well.

I considered moving it to Wordpress, but with the new features Blogger has, I figured why bother.

So bookmark this blog, I'll be updating here semi-frequently. Whenever I want to talk about something and I'm not either podcasting about it or talking in brief on Facebook about it, I'll take to here and churn out my thoughts.

-B

Podcasting Fool

2011-12-18T12:37:00.003-05:00

This weekend has been chock full of podcasting, and there's still more to come!

Let's see, Friday I had to edit and post last week's Zone 4 episode. Then that same day I put together the next episode of Transmissions from Zone 4 as well, and got that sent off Saturday morning.

Last night we recorded this week's Zone 4 episode. This afternoon we'll be recording next week's episode because of the holidays.

Then tomorrow night we record the next episode of RaynMan, which goes live the day after Christmas.

So yeah, TONS of podcasting going on.

Not to mention I've been working on the Zone 4 website as I find the time to do so.

It's funny, a little over two years ago we started Zone 4, and it actually stemmed from this very blog believe it or not! Chuck Kennedy had seen me posting on a G.I. Joe forum and found my blog. We started chatting and reading each others' posts. Cary Kelley and I had worked together before that and he and I started up our blogs around the same time. Jason Berek-Lewis somehow came into the blog picture with us, though I honestly don't recall how.

Anyway, the four of us became fast friends, supporting each others' blogs and chatting it up on Jason's public and private forums. I had wanted to dabble into podcasts for a while, and the four of us saw it as an opportunity to finally converse with each other outside the confines of the written word.

See, we, at the time, lived in four different time zones. I'm in Kentucky, Chuck is in Illinois, Cary at the time travelled a lot for his job and was sometimes a few hours difference from us, and Jason is in Australia. So the likelihood of us all meeting in person at the time was out of the question. Podcasting was the next best thing.

For the first few months all four of us would get together weekly and chat about comics and other things we liked. It was a blast. Jason, however, had to sadly step away from the show not too far into its life. Cary's work began taking him away from the show more frequently as well to the point we'd be lucky if we got him on once every other month. Earlier this year, Cary and Chuck both decided to call it quits, but later came back as reservists. Though Chuck has only been on once since and Cary not at all. They both have demanding lives.

We've had several other cast members over the course of the show, and other guests and recurring guests as well. The show has lived on with its one constant, me. My voice has been heard on every single episode in one way or another, and there were only about three or four episodes I wasn't part of the main discussion. With all the extras, we've done about 170 shows to date, and close to 50 RaynMan episodes. Not to mention three Transmission from Zone 4 episodes and various other podcasts I've been a guest on over the past three years.

So yeah, while it's no Comic Geek Speak or This Week in Tech record or even close, it's a lot for a guy that just started dabbling in the medium a couple of years ago I think. And now it seems to take up a lot of my time each week, but I still have so much fun doing them.

I don't get to visit with my fellow comic book fan friends too often these days, so it's nice to sit down every week and chat about something we all love. And so I'll keep doing it.

Now if only my shows could get popular enough to start making me some money...

If you'd like to sponsor an episode, email me at zone4@comicrelated.com

:D

-B

Trying Week

2011-12-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

Even though every day seems the same to me, I'm glad, both literally and symbolically that this, being Friday is the end of the week.

This week has been brutal on a number of levels. Work wise, I was struggling to keep up with a certain project and slid into the deadline at the last minute. I did finish, though. Now I have a mountain of other work to tackle, and I still need to find time to find more work.

Physically - though I said I was doing well last post - I've had a few problems this week. For one, I've had very bad headaches for the past two weeks, and yesterday I had a really, really bad one. I think it may be my blood pressure as I ran out of medication for it a couple of months ago, and I haven't exactly been living stress fee, or, sadly, shedding any pounds. I had one left that I was holding onto just in case. I took it last night and it did help, so I'm going to try and get them filled again today if I can find the cash to do so.

I've also (surprise) got a toothache right now. Actually had a piece of tooth break off while I was eating last night. So that's pleasant.

That aside, I am doing well.

I mentioned needing to find more work, and that couldn't be truer. I have one decent paying gig right now, but that barely scratches the surface of what I need for rent and bills, not to mention Christmas. 9 days out and not one single gift bought for or by anyone in my family at this point. I don't ever recall a Christmas in my lifetime that happened. I've had some bad ones, but not that bad. Freelance work has just been really slow, and this year has been overall dreadful.

Don't get me wrong, I know gifts aren't the reason for the season as it were, and it's about spending time with family, celebrating Jesus Christ if you're of that faith as I am, and so on. But many times my joy comes from being able to pull off Christmas for my family and have them shocked by it after a usually dismal December leading up to it. And this year I just don't think I can pull it off.

Because of work, stress and everything else, as I mentioned before, it's been hard to get into the Christmas spirit. And while I have remained pretty positive and hopeful throughout, trying to bring everyone else up, I have to admit that the last couple of days it started hitting me that no matter how hard I tried it may just not happen this year. Reality sucks.

But enough about all that jazz. I finally got to see the Jim Carey animated A Christmas Carol a few days ago. That particular story is one of my favorite Christmas stories, and I enjoy seeing the various films based on it. I think my favorite would be the Patrick Stewart version, but the George C. Scott one is also good, as is the version that took many liberties with it, Scrooged. I even like the Mickey Mouse one. It's just a classic, timeless story that really does sum things up. Christmas is a time of giving and celebration.

The animation in that Jim Carey film was amazing. And you could see some of the actors in their animated counterparts. It was hard to mistake Bob Hoskins, for instance. It was an awesome and faithful take on the story, which actually surprised me. I thought being Carey that many liberties would be taken (see How the Grinch Stole Christmas - while I did enjoy that film, it was embellished a great deal). But by and large, it was very much like any other classic take on the story. The dramatic tone, the subdued lighting and of course the message. The only parts I didn't like and thought were a bit over the top were the parts that seemed overly Disney'd up. Fezziwig's (sp) dancing, for one, was a bit much with all the flips and such. And Scrooge shrinking and running through sewer pipes and such was a little ridiculous. I know it was during the dream/ visitation sequence, but still. But those are small nitpicks of what was a really good film.

That's another thing. Both because of my lack of time and the trouble getting into the spirit of things, one of my usual rituals for this time of year has alluded me thus far. That being watching all the Christmas movies. I have watched Elf, something I do every year since I saw it in the theater. Probably the only Will Farrell movie I'd watch a second time, let alone every year. And of course the Carey one I've been talking about. But that's it. Hopefully I'll get a chance to catch a few. I have a short list of ones I tend to watch every year, so I hope I get to.

With that, I think I've rambled on enough for one day. It feels good to be blogging again.

-B

You Never Know

2011-12-14T23:53:00.001-05:00

So I've updated this blog, what, four times in this year? Something like that. Not very much at all. This week I've only had like 30 people read it.

But in all that, something I said got me in trouble. Out of billions of people and tons of blogs across the Internet, the right person reads my blog and it works against me.

All I can say is it figures. Such is my life.

I've removed the bit that caused the problem and I won't be bringing that or anything similar up again. My apologies to those that had a problem with it, my mistake, and I meant no offense or trouble from it.

That will teach me to make stream of consciousness posts before going to bed after being up for over 20 hours, I tell you that!

After beating myself up about it quite a bit for a good 24 hours, I'm moving on. Everybody makes mistakes.

So this month has been brutal. I have more work than I can keep up with, but it's either on deferred payment, it's work to pay off debt, I've already been paid for it, or it's for a small amount of pay that won't get me hat I need, being bills and rent paid. But it's work, and I'm SO thankful for it, especially at this time of year when things tend to get really slow.

I've been taking 2-3 hour naps at 10-15 hour intervals. The past couple of days I've had so little sleep that my head felt like it had a 200 pound weight on it bogging me down. I've had points of deliriousness even. heh

It all balances out, though, and at some point soon I'll crash for 10 hours and start the cycle all over again. It's fine, I'm not worried about it. I'm doing fine physically these days, save for the headaches and nagging teeth problems I've had since I was a child.

I posted on Facebook the other day that a spark of creativity struck me, and I'm really excited about it. I won't say too much about it right now, and it's nothing ground-breaking or anything like that. Just a cool, fun idea that has had me really excited for the past couple of days. And excitement and good feelings are something I could use in spades right now.

This time of year is always tough for everyone, but because of the way this year went, what with the surgery and Haven closing down and so forth, things have gotten extremely tight these past few months. And right now it's probably the tightest December I've had in, man, 15 years I'd say.

Sometimes my friends think I'm crazy for trying to juggle all the things I do. From the podcasts, to the webcomics, to flatting, to lettering and logo design, to Comic Related... it does seem like a lot. And at one time I had a couple of other tasks added to all that. Usually I'm able to juggle it pretty well and do okay with it all. For some reason, the past couple of months I've really struggled keeping it all on track. But I don't want to lose any of it. So I don't know, I need to figure out something.

On that note, as you can see, I have plenty to do. So until next time...

Oh, and I may just keep this blog and redesign it instead of moving it. I've already broken that 1000 posts thing, so why not, right? We'll see...

-B

Randomosity

2011-12-08T07:22:00.001-05:00

I'm tired once more having been up all night working, and am once again feeling the urge to blog. I have no idea why, I guess I just feel like talking and no one's up.

Just spouting off random stuff here, so don't mind me.

Anyone seen the trailer for the new Three Stooges movie? I wrote a blog post about it on ComicRelated.com that will go up this afternoon. While I am still leary, it does look fun and reminiscent of the Stooges I remember. That has already been a topic of debate with some friends on Facebook who completely disagree with me. Oh well, to each their own. I doubt I'd see it in the theater, but I'd watch it.

I'm a bit behind on lettering work this week and really need to pick that back up today. I think I need a short nap first. After getting good, consistent sleep over the weekend I've been doing the 3-hour naps all week. I think Monday-Wednesday I got a total of maybe 10-11 hours of sleep. And here it is 7:30am on Thursday and my eyes are starting to cross. heh SO much to do, though, just to catch up. And on top of that I'm constantly hunting for other work.

That's one of the downsides of being a freelancer. You're always having to look for work as opposed to it just being there. I hit up all the boards on a daily basis, most of the time multiple times daily. Sadly, I've been passed over for about 15 jobs in the past month with no reason given. I know it's not my skills because I've been doing this for a long while now and am confident in them. I guess others are either under-bidding me or are beating me to the punch.

I do have one job coming soon, so that's good. Nowhere near what I need right now, but a big help nevertheless.

It has been really cold the past couple of days. No snow yet, but plenty of rain and chilly weather. Last time I slept, when I woke up I was freezing. I just looked at the temp and it's 25 degrees outside. That's 7 degrees below freezing. I'm not a fan.

I was passing the window last night and there was a really bright light shining through it that caught my eye. So I look out and what do I see? The moon. Very distant, but completely visible and brighter than I ever remember seeing it. It hurt my eyes looking at it. Strange.

Usually by now I would have had Christmas songs blasting already. For whatever reason I haven't. I've heard a few here and there, and I've gone around the house singing a few, but I'm just not tuned in to the season yet I guess. Which is very odd for me because this is my absolute favorite time of the year for many reasons. Being a Christian it certainly means something to me spiritually of course. But beyond that, I have always just gotten really into the magic and warmth of it all. I love watching Christmas movies and episodes, and listening to the music, seeing all the decorations, sitting around a fire (or a fake fire in my case). I love making Christmas a big production (when I can) for my family and seeing their faces when I've pulled out the seemingly impossible. It's just fun and I eat it all up. In fact, I usually insist decorations stay up longer than they should Most years of my life we've had Christmas decorations almost to the end of January! By then it starts getting old, but I try to live with it as much as possible and hold on to that feeling.

Oddly enough, I've rarely ever decorated outside the house. Go figure.

Man, this is a longer post than I intended, and now I feel like I'm kind of rambling. I mean, I know I said it was random stuff, but really, I could just go on and on like this. I think I'll spare you that for now and end it here.

Thanks for reading?

-B

Still Kicking

2011-12-05T05:31:00.002-05:00

So, I intended to end this blog at 1,000 posts, and I did for a while until I accidentally had my Twitter posts updating as blog posts here. So that threw in some more posts.

Then I started coming back here whenever I had something to say. Like I am now. Not that it's all that important or profound, I just felt like blogging this morning.

I do intend on continuing blogging elsewhere soon, I'm just trying to wait on my new site to be up. I may not wait that long, though. I will update here if I start a new one with a link so you all can follow me over there.

Have you ever had one of those times where it feels like there is so much going on, and so much to do, but it's not sufficient at the same time, and you don't feel like doing any of it? That's where I'm at right now. It's almost like I feel like everything I'm doing and have on my plate is just treading water or running in place. It's not moving me forward. Well, some of it is in certain areas, but not the most important areas.

I've been exploring other avenues for a while now and will continue to do so. I've been praying about things and just trying to wrap my head around stuff. It's been a long, arduous year I have to tell you.

Work has been really slow. I have some right now, but it's barely scratching the surface of what I need. And that makes it hard to focus on at times. I know I have to do it because I committed to it, and it is work, but at the same time it's not getting me what I need. Every little bit helps, and that's why I do it. But still, it can be frustrating at times.

Creatively, I've got SO many things I want to do. For the past few weeks I'll have these spurts where I jump into creative mode and start planning and getting active, only to realize I should really be doing this other stuff - work stuff - first, and then I get snapped back to reality and more frustrated.

I know eventually I'll find a good balance and things will work out, but it's times like these that are just hard no matter what you do, you know?

What gets me is that I know there's a better way, and I know I'm intelligent enough to find it, but it's like it's just out of my grasp. I can't quite grab hold of whatever it is that I need to do differently.

I don't even know who's out there reading this, but whoever you are, say a prayer or send a positive thought my way. I am upbeat and positive most days, don't get me wrong. I just still need to figure some things out. I'm human and I have times of frustration and disgust with things around me like anyone else. I don't dwell in it, trust me. But those instances come from a need for change, and I just don't know what to change.

I know everybody probably has an opinion on that, but that's not really what I'm looking for. I'm not soliciting advice or help really, I'm just venting and hoping someone out there sends some vibes my way or something, or a light bulb goes off and I figure out what to do and where to go from here.

Anyway, I should bring this rambling diatribe to an end for now. I'm tired (been up all night after a couple of days of solid, long rest), and I've got a ton to do today. Will probably catch a nap before jumping into it. My chronic headaches I've been having all weekend are still raging and staring at this screen right now is really starting to get to me.

Until whenever, have a great week, happy holidays and God bless.

-B

Winds of Change

2011-09-11T05:16:00.004-04:00

Yes, it's me, back on the "retired" blog to make another post. I am working with buddy Darren to get my revamped site launched soon, which will incorporate a new blog. So bear with me.

In the meantime, had some thoughts on my mind and wanted to get them down.

The comic news website I have been involved with for the past few years was sold last week to a new owner. For those that didn't know, I was a part owner of CR, but, well, I won't get into how the sale took place. Not for a public forum such as this. Let's just leave it at I wasn't happy.

Anyway, the new owner is Robert Hickey, another friend who founded Blueline Pro, the comic and art supplies company and publisher of Sketch Magazine. Bob has been in the business for a long time and is respected in the industry, so that's fine.

For the time being, I am still with CR, but without the freedom and decision making power previously afforded me sadly. And Bob is making changes, not all of which I'm a bit too happy about. We've spoken, he knows my general feelings, so I'll leave it at that.

I am supportive of Bob and of the new CR, don't get me wrong. But at the same time, I am just wondering what happens from here.

I know this blog has been dead for a while now, but at the risk of someone reading this, I'm not going to go into things too deep here. I have stayed completely silent about this for several days now and am even hesitant now to break my silence. In the end, though, I just feel like letting some of the frustration out, and those I'd normally vent to are actually on the opposing side of my viewpoint, so it would do no good.

Ever since the sale was announced (and believe me, folks, I only knew mere hours before the public did) I have been giving a LOT of thought as to my future with the site I gave every day of my life for almost four years to, and actually ran practically by myself for almost a year.

As I said previously, I am supportive, and I am staying on for now, but beyond that will be determined by how things go from here, both with the changes being made and my much less significant role in the grand scheme of things.

This does cause me to pose a question to myself, though, and it's not the first time it's crossed my mind. Am I a creator or a news guy? I have loved comics since I was a kid, and I have been involved within the comic industry in some shape or form for the past 13 years. I have run two comic news sites for a total of 5-6 years, and I have lettered comics for several years. I now flat as well, and of course I design logos. I think of myself as a writer and have had a couple of things published, and I'm somewhat of an artist, and have had a few pieces published as well.

So where is the line? I'm both, and I'm good at both. I enjoy both. But at the end of the day, I feel there will ultimately be one path to take, the creative side or the journalistic side. I don't think I could ever go back to JUST the fan side of things, though I will always be a fan. But I do feel a choice will have to be made eventually, and with change in the air, maybe that time is coming sooner than I anticipated, or maybe not.

I have been a comic editor before as well, for a few small studios. One time I asked an established comic editor for one of the top five comic publishers how she got into it at that level, how she found clients, and what advice she could give me. She said something very simple and very obvious to me, though. And that was that if I intended to be a writer then I shouldn't pursue editing, because editors are those who wanted to write but couldn't.

I''m paraphrasing, and she said it much more eloquently, but basically it's the same thing as the old adage of "those who can, do, and those who can't, teach." And that really hit home with me at the time.

Granted, there are some editors out there who also write, but you don't typically see writers who also edit. That may sound confusing, but it's a matter of both perspective and of what you mainly devote your time and craft to.

For me, I many times feel like a jack of all trades, master of none. And while those trades typically put food on the table (well, the lettering and flatting do anyway), they're honestly not where my heart lies.

I enjoy working for a comic news site. When I fell into the first job where I quickly went from a department editor to the guy who ran the entire site in only a few months, I found something I loved doing and got paid to do. After that site went out of business, though, I wasn't fortunate enough to find that combination. I did find CR, and within it a lot of friends and the fun part of the job, which was posting and for a long while running a comic news site. But again, with both sites I had quite a bit of freedom. In between the two, I had nearly started my own site of the kind even.

But without that freedom, and with a much more limited capacity, is it going to be the same?

That's not something I can answer just yet. What I can answer is that if I had it the way I wanted it I would either be a successful writer or singer. Those are the two things I'm most passionate for, and sadly the two things I've most had to sacrifice for a long time.

So maybe that time is coming where I have to make a decision, I don't know. I just hope when the time does come I have the strength and the wisdom to both make the decision and know which decision is the right one to make.

Still Selling Stuff

2011-08-18T09:35:00.003-04:00

Here's the list:

http://www.comicrelated.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11017

Email me at gonzogoose at brantfowler.com if interested.

I may start doing some sketch commissions too.

I need to pay some bills this month and work is VERY slow coming in right now, so yeah...

Still available for lettering, logo design and flatting as well.

Selling Stuff

2011-08-04T06:40:00.003-04:00

Anybody want to buy a long box of random comics from the past few years? I have some DVDs as well. I don't have time to list them right now, but if anyone's interested let me know. I need to make some money, honey. :) Plus this stuff is just sitting here taking up space.

What's Been Going On?

2011-08-02T06:42:00.003-04:00

Hey folks out there in blogger land. My new site and new blog are still in the works, and I just needed an outlet, so I'm reviving this one more time. May be just for this post, or it could become semi-regular again, who knows?

So what's been up with me? Good, bad, ugly and everything in between. Let's run down the laundry list.

Had surgery back in March, had a rough time getting on my feet afterward. Surgery went well, I'm all healed up (save for the scars on my belly that won't seem to lose their redness four months later) and am feeling better than I have in years.

I had gained a lot of weight pre-surgery due to inactivity and other factors. I've lost 20 pounds or so since surgery. Still have a long way to go, but I'm eating healthier for the most part and am feeling good about my steady weight loss at this point.

Because of surgery and the subsequent recovery, I feel way behind on work and am still trying to catch up. Sadly, that also put me behind on bills, something else I'm still struggling to catch up on. It didn't help I got laid off my main source of income in the middle of my recovery.

Still having blood pressure issues, but I'm on medication, and as long as I take it regularly I'm fine.

I've added flatting to my work tasks along with lettering and logo design. I'm currently flatting Legion of Super-Heroes for a colorist working on the book for DC Comics. I've done random pages of Marvel and DC issues in the past as well. Check out gonzogoose.com and just-flats.net.

I haven't been to a con in almost a year, but I'll be hitting two in September. Should be fun, lots of friends will be there I haven't seen in a year.

I had reconnected with a friend on Facebook, but said friend deleted their account recently, so I've lost touch again. Oh well.

I had planned on launching a Kickstarter.com campaign for Wannabez on June 30th. An unforeseen issue halted that and I'm still trying to resolve the matter so I can get it out there.

Got some bad news this morning that has me in a scrambling panic financially. So I'm for hire if anyone out there needs lettering, logo designs or flatting. I also have a longbox of random comics (mostly modern stuff) I'd be more than willing to sell. Email me at gonzogoose@brantfowler.com if interested in hiring me or buying some stuff. I may toss it up on eBay, but I have to find the time to do so, which is unlikely.

Been working around the clock, sleeping very little (5-Hour Energy is my close friend, and it's a good one!), but a lot of the work I'm doing is catching up on stuff. Need some more soon!

ComicRelated.com has kept me very busy as well. We had a meeting yesterday to streamline some stuff and make it easier on us and give better content to our readers. An announcement about that should be coming today on the site.

Speaking of the CR meeting, if anyone in the Lexington, KY area ever ventures into Common Grounds downtown (a coffee house/cafe, college hangout kind of place with live music, poetry readings, etc.), I recommend both the smoothies and the chicken quesanini. Good stuff.

I was supposed to record a Flashpoint Files podcast today (reviewing the latest in the Flashpoint comic saga), but I think I'm gonna have to postpone it until tomorrow, so it should go live then on CR.

Recently made some changes to Zone 4, added some reserve members. We announce it on this Friday's episode on CR, iTunes, etc.

Watched a lot of movies in recent months. Been to the theater more times in the past two months than I have in the past three years! Saw Thor, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class and Captain America: First Avenger. Enjoyed the three Marvel films. Green Lantern was decent as well, but not nearly as good. Been wanting to see the latest Transformers, Harry Potter and Cowboys & Aliens, but given my cryptic financial situation alluded to above, I doubt that'll happen anytime soon.

Speaking of the theater, I ran into an old friend, actually one of my former Sunday School students, but more like a brother at a theater when I went to see Cap. Good seeing him and talking for a bit.

Been watching movies at home as well - it's what I do to relax and get rid of the stress of constant work. I like movies, always have, always will.

Recently saw Source Code, Sucker Punch, Rango, Battle: Los Angeles and Dinner for Schmucks to name a few. In order: Decent, Very Good, Ok, Not great, funny at parts, but largely seen it all before. How's that for quick reviews?

Been enjoying a lot of TV as well, more than I probably should. I record everything, so I never watch anything when it comes on. Sometimes I go weeks and have to watch multiple episodes of stuff. I work too much. So then I hit a wall and just immerse myself in mindless entertainment. heh

Some of the fun stuff I've been watching includes Falling Skies, Eureka, Warehouse 13, Alphas, Leverage, wrestling of course, Teen Wolf, Burn Notice, Suits and Covert Affairs to name a few. All very good shows. Some better than others, but all quality television. I'm behind on all of them I think, but still fun when I get a chance to watch.

And with that, you are caught up on my life, such as it is. Hard times right now, what else is new? Hopefully things will change. I'm waiting to hear about something that could potentially be a game changer for me, but it's a longshot right now and I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch as it were.

Anyway, been nice chatting. Needed the release, and you get caught up with me at the same time. Been a while.

-B

Colds and Cold

2010-12-16T18:22:00.002-05:00

Sorry for not keeping up the daily posts, work and illness have prevented me from doing so.

I find a brief moment of time catching my wind here, though, and figured I'd toss up a quick post.

We got a small bit of sleet and snow last night, but forecasts were a lot more threatening. Since we've had a few really bad ice storms here over the past few years that tend to knock out power for days, even up to two weeks, it's understandable. But thankfully it wasn't that bad this time. I just hope it remains that way.

We only have about 2-3 inches of snow on the ground, which we've had for several days that keeps replenishing as soon as it starts melting. I'd prefer to keep it just the way it is until after Christmas. We tend to get snow before and after, but hardly ever on Christmas, which kind of puts a damper on things in that regard. But please, God, just a little snow like we have now. No big drifts or ice storms please!

Speaking of weather, the sudden drop (it went down to about 9 degrees the other night, which is low for here) brought on something else... a cold! Yep, the past two days I've been nursing a nasty cold, eating soup and ice cream to soothe the throat, coughing and sneezing my head off, and all that. PLUS I have a toothache. Add all that to my more than normally frequent gallbladder attacks and let's just say this week hasn't been incredibly pleasant.

But, all that aside, I have been making progress. Last night I finished up flatting a page of Darkwing Duck! Through a good friend of mine, Lisa Moore, I've been able to pick up a new trade in flatting, and because of that and her I've had the great opportunity to work on some pretty cool stuff, from Iron Man, to Spider-Man to the latest, Darkwing Duck. That page was incredibly detailed, and it will be going in my portfolio as soon as the issue is released.

Speaking of that portfolio, you can find it here: http://faeriestories.com/justflats/?page_id=8

My duties for Haven have changed the past month or two, but I'm still behind on what I do have on my plate from them. Plan to get that back on track today and tomorrow. I still have a couple of lettering jobs on my plate as well, but I'm always looking for more!

I also applied for a writing, lettering and logo design position on a wrestling comic, so wish me luck!

Christmas is in less than ten days, and while I LOVE this time of year and this holiday more than any other day/time of the year, I am nowhere near ready for it this year. It's been a rough year, but despite the stress and heartache this season can bring, it also brings great joy. Be it family and friends, the celebration of Jesus' birth, or just the general magic feeling of the holiday, it does tend to brighten spirits if you let it. I'm trying my best to do just that.

I'll update again as soon as I can. Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas!!!

Odds and Ends

2010-12-04T19:31:00.002-05:00

Well, we got our first real snow of the season. Looks nice outside, the streets are now clear, and there's just a small blanket of snow on the ground. Not enough to go sledding or anything like that, but enough to get you in the holiday mood. Now if it'll just stick around until Christmas!

Been a busy few days catching up on things after being down sick for the better part of a week. Tonight I'm not feeling great, sadly. Stomach is giving me trouble. Hopefully it'll pass.

I also have this nasty bruise on my arm from the IV needle. It's turned colors a few times. Right now it's a mixture of yellow, brown, black and blue. It's about the size of the bottom of a small juice glass I guess. I'd say about 2 inches in diameter if my math skills are serving me right.

I think they also pinched a nerve with the needle as for the past two days I had a dull ache all the way up that arm through my shoulder. It hasn't bothered me today, so that's what I'm thinking it was.

Even though my stomach is hurting, I'm hungry and have nothing here but cheese and lunchmeat turkey. I am SO sick of turkey, the thought of it makes me want to puke. I've been practically living on turkey sandwiches (with cheese and mustard) for months, every once in a while splurging on something I shouldn't have, like cheese pizza or spaghetti. I pay for it, but at least it's not bland. But I can't bear to eat turkey tonight and I won't be making it out, so I guess no supper for me. Not like I couldn't stand to miss a few meals, but still.

Today has not been nearly as productive as I had hoped. Actually, I deemed a few weeks ago to start taking Saturdays off as I don't normally have a day off. But this weekend where I was down for so long I've got a lot to do. Sadly, I didn't do much today. Just not feeling up to it I guess.

Been watching a lot of movies lately, as I always do. One of my favorite pastimes I'll freely admit. Always has been. Recently, just to name a few, I've watched The Expendables, Toy Story 3, Green Lantern: First Flight and Jonah Hex.

Of those, Toy Story 3 was the best, with, surprisingly, Jonah Hex coming in second.

The Expendables was a decent action flick starring a bunch of famous action stars. I was actually surprised to see Stone Cold Steve Austin in the film alongside such heavyweights as Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Jet Li.

It would have been cool to see Duane The Rock Johnson, Carl Weathers and Jean Claude Van Damme in it as well, but even without them that was a pretty heavy offering of big name action stars.

One of my favorite moments was a scene with the big three, Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger. Willis' character asked what Arnold's character's problem was, and Stallone's characters said he was trying to be president. It should be noted that Arnold just made a brief cameo, and that scene played into that cameo perfectly with a little realism and showed Arnold is a good sport. Unlike Van Damme, who turned down the flick because he wanted to play important, meaningful roles... so he filmed Universal Soldier 15 or something.

It was also cool seeing Stallone and Lundgren face off as any Rocky fan will attest to.

So the movie had a lot of bright spots, but still, it was just a blow 'em up flick with barely a story and no great Oscar winning acting performances.

Green Lantern: First Flight was quite the disappointment, actually. This is an animated movie from Warner Home Entertainment and DC Comics, which a lot of people liked. I didn't. I thought it was more on par with what I hate about Marvel Comics animated films. The animation was lackluster, the story and dialogue was weak, and it just wasn't fun. It was cool seeing the different Green Lanterns, and I actually did like the portrayal of Hal Jordan in this film far better than the comics, but overall I felt it was a waste of time and was definitely not a match for most of DC/Warner's other animated films, which are typically superb.

Jonah Hex surprised me, it really did. I was never a fan of the character, and I had heard the movie panned so many times by so many people, including a lot of friends. And it has Megan Fox in it, which acting wise is a strike against it in my books. Girl may be somewhat attractive (though I think she looks very fake most of the time), but she can't normally act at all. But she actually wasn't half bad in this film.

The story was interesting, I liked the added supernatural elements to it, and I thought Brolin was great as Hex. It was fun, action-packed and entertaining. I wish it was about 20-30 minutes longer, but aside from that I've got no real complaints.

Toy Story 3, which couldn't be more different from the other films mentioned, was a fun romp that lived up to the previous two installments and saw some resolution to the toys' story (pun fully intended), but at the same time leaving it wide open should they wish to revisit the characters at some point.

I loved the element of the daycare and the story that spun out of that place, it was a really strong story with some interesting twists. They also hinted at some issues that spoke to the maturity of the films, but still were respectful of younger watchers.

The ending was a nice and fitting send off, and an emotional one at that. When Andy sat down to play with the toys one more time with the little girl it was a very powerful moment in the film and anyone unmoved by that just doesn't feel. Seriously, it was a very good movie in my opinion.

So, that's about it. I podcast in two hours, so I need to scrounge up something to eat. Wish me luck!

New Wannabez Page

2010-12-03T10:50:00.002-05:00

A new page of my comic, Wannabez, is now live!

http://www.wannabez.com/archive/wannabez-1-page-4/

Yep, we debuted the printed version of issue #1 this past April at C2E2, then decided to take the series to the web.

We added color to the previously grayscale #0 issue and ran it, now we're four pages into issue #1!!

We also have a Facebook fan page and Twitter feed, both linked from the main Wannabez site (you'll see them in the sidebar after clicking the link above.

I have really been getting into the making of webcomics of late. I mentioned in my last post that I'm lettering several and I'm of course writing Wannabez. Well, It's All Related, which I co-write, is coming back, I'm just not sure when, probably next year sometime. And I have three other webcomic ideas rolling around in my head I hope to make a reality.

HEALTH

Feeling okay for now. Late last night got a little rough, but I slept it off. So far this morning I just feel a little like I have heartburn, but in my stomach. I'm supposed to take Prilosec every morning before I eat anything, but I forgot today.

My right arm is killing me, though. When they gave me the IV I guess they missed or had a hard time finding it (I was dehydrated, and my huge veins tend to collapse when that happens - they almost had to give it to me in my elbow!), so now I have this massive ugly bruise on the inside of my forearm and my arm is aching relentlessly.

WORK

I caught up on a couple of things last night, but I'm still behind. I'm also behind on answering some emails, so hopefully I'll get to do that today.

COMIC RELATED

I'm manning the site alone this weekend as my partners will be at a con in my home state of Georgia, which I wanted to go to, but alas, I can't. John did a few posts before he left for today and tomorrow, maybe even Sunday, so that definitely helped, but the bulk of it is on me as I traded a day with Chuck earlier in the week. I think I've got a handle on this, though. Not like I haven't run a comic news site by myself before. heh

IN CLOSING

That's really all I have at the moment. I'm still gathering thoughts, scrambling to catch up with the fastly fading day, and get my butt in gear.

So, until next time, I bid you adieu.

Temporarily Revived

2010-12-02T13:29:00.003-05:00

Well, getting the new site/blog up and running has taken quite longer than expected, so for now I am reviving this blog (hey Ray, did get your FB message).

I don't know how long I'll keep this up, but for now I'm gonna use this just to spew my thoughts out there.

So, I still have the gallbladder troubles. It's been a long road, but I am finally making headway into getting it taken care of. I've talked with one surgeon and will be talking to another soon. I've dealt with two hospitals and a clinic, and after a number of years now have a regular doctor.

That said, my Thanksgiving was spent alone, in bed, for 5 days that ended in a 6-hour stay in the ER, followed by 18 hours of sleeping the pain meds they pumped into me off. That was yesterday. Today I'm back home, feeling better for the moment, and finally getting back to work after a 6 day hiatus for the most part (though I did work as I could, and I worked Mon-Wed of last week as well).

Speaking of work, it has gotten slow here lately, which has really hurt me a lot. I won't give you my woes on that subject, just suffice it to say I'm looking for freelance work right now (car's down, so office jobs are out of the question for now).

If you need some lettering or logo design let me know at gonzogoose @ brantfowler.com.

In fact, I've even picked up a new skill: flatting! I have flatted several pages for Marvel, not directly, but through a friend who does regular flatting for them. Flatting is uncredited, only the main colorist gets the credit, but I'm cool with that. So if you have some flatting work, let me know on that as well.

Lettering and Logo Design samples: http://www.gonzogoose.com/

Flatting samples: http://faeriestories.com/justflats/?page_id=8

I've also been drawing a lot lately. I entered this challenge a friend of mine put together called the 30 Character Challenge. We were tasked with creating a new character for every day of November, and I did so and even did an extra one.

You can check out all my characters here: http://www.30characters.com/author/brantfowler/

I've also been putting out my webcomic, Wannabez, twice a week. Check it out at:

http://www.wannabez.com/comic/

Updates every Tuesday and Friday.

And I letter three weekly webcomics:

New Comic Day - http://www.newcomicday.net

Updates every Wednesday

Spy6Teen - http://www.spy6teen.com

Updates every Monday

Price for the Asking - http://comicrelated.com/news/9736/price-for-the-asking

Updates every Monday

(I'm currently working on a Wordpress site for this one, so it will have its own URL soon!)

And of course I've still been working with Comic Related. I'm the COO, Site Manager and the guy in charge of Advertising for the site in fact. My partners are three of my best friends, so you can't beat that!

Ok, that's enough for now. Thanks for all your support in years past, and thanks for coming back and reading this now if you are. I intend on updating this blog every day from now until the new site/blog is launched barring being ill or having surgery.

I'm Back!!!

My dad dropped in to

2009-12-19T19:26:00.001-05:00

My dad dropped in town unexpectedly. Just got back from dinner with him - it went well.

Special Wannabez Off

2009-12-16T18:29:00.001-05:00

Special Wannabez Offer! http://htxt.it/IWql

Up early, early toda

2009-12-14T06:30:00.001-05:00

Up early, early today. It's 6:30am and I've already been working for three hours!

Thanksgiving was ama

2009-11-27T12:59:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving was amazing - SO much GOOD food and company!

Happy Thanksgiving,

2009-11-26T07:24:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you all have a blessed and fun day!

Today It All Changes

2009-09-30T23:30:00.000-04:00

Exactly four years ago, on September 30, 2005, I started this blog as a way to talk about whatever was on my mind. Be that updates on projects, religious discussions, comics, rants on this or that, birthday wishes or what have you, it was meant as an outlet for whatever I was feeling or wanting to express at any given time.

Over the years I have gone days or weeks without posting. I've gained and lost readers. I've whined and complained, and I've praised and rejoiced. There have been good days and bad days, good posts and bad posts.

Through it all, though, I had fun doing it, and I was able to get it all out there for the world to see. I made some very close friends through this blog, some acquaintances, and even got some work from it. I've made people really happy with it, and I've made people really mad with it. I've gotten called out on it, and I've been pulled to the side over it.

But good or bad, it's been a constant for four years. And that changes today.

This is officially my 1000th post on this blog, and it will be my last.

If you have followed this blog at all you know that the last four years have been quite the up and down journey. We've laughed, we've cried, we've talked about the most inane subjects possible. But if my last post before this one was any indication (not to mention the many like it and worse over the years), it's time for a change.

I have been loosely planning this for some time, though I had hoped my other plans would be further along by now so that the transition would be smooth. But alas, sometimes things just work out the way they do, and there's nothing that can be done about them.

A few posts back I let you in on my secret that I was retro-dating a few of these posts. I had intended, once I hit about 989, to work my way up to this date to end it on the date I began it. But I lost track and the day passed. So instead of accepting that I retro'd them, and I'm not ashamed. :)

What I intended to happen was to relaunch my website with a new design and brand new blog to start fresh. I am nowhere near ready for that, though, so I am ending this without something to jump to.

What I will tell you is that eventually, I will be starting a brand new blog, which I will update constantly, at the same www.brantfowler.com/blog url. This blog will remain here as an archive.

So why am I doing this? Basically, I have come to the decision that I need a fresh, new beginning. I want to start fresh and clean and put my past behind me. That may sound trivial concerning a blog, but this blog thing is symbolic of a greater desire to lay down the past which has plagued me for some time. I'm ready to move forward and let go.

That's not to say I'm quitting what I'm doing or starting all over completely. I love what I do with lettering, Comic Related, Haven and so forth. But I feel like for a while now I've been like the hamster in the wheel, running its little heart out but never going anywhere. My wheels have been turning, but I've been stuck in a rut. A rut I fully intend to break, starting today.

So with all that said, I would like to thank you all for your faithful readership over the years. I'd also like to thank you for the comments you've left, and for the support and encouragement you've showed. For those of you who made this journey with me and became close friends, LCS forever, guys. Ray, Jenny, and the rest, thank you for following my words and sharing with me yours from time to time.

I hope that you all will follow me to the new blog when I'm ready to take it live. And I hope you've enjoyed reading my ramblings as much as I've enjoyed sharing them.

In closing, I'll leave you with the motto of my former church, which seems more than appropo for the occasion: Today, A New Beginning.

Prayer Changes Things

2009-09-30T22:24:00.000-04:00

Regardless of what your beliefs are, I have to tell you that prayer works. I was honestly feeling pretty down for the past few weeks, though I didn't fully realize it. I was always tired and constantly stressed, and didn't feel like doing anything. I put on as strong a front as I could and soldiered on, chalking it up to work.

But tonight I came to a realization, or rather an acceptance, that a little enemy of mine was once again latching on, that being depression. I've suffered with it a couple of times before, once in my teens, once a few short years ago. And so I knew the signs, but for whatever reason just kept thinking it was being overworked.

I'm not going into any detail about the whys and so forth as it defeats the point of this post. After tonight, when I dealt with yet another situation I wish could have been avoided, I accepted what was happening and decided to do something about it. So, not to be too graphic, I took a shower and prayed while I was in there. I tend to do that as it's a good place for reflection and whatnot.

Well, I am 110% better now, rejuvenated, awake, and ready to conquer the day. I'm not delusional, I'm not avoiding or skirting the problem, I feel like I've overcome it before it could dig in too deep and affect me more than it had.

So, for anyone who may have noticed a little off behavior in me, fear not, I'm all good, and I have no one to thank for that but God.

Going Retro

2009-09-30T21:22:00.000-04:00

You may notice a bunch of posts magically appearing on Sept. 30th. I'll tell you why in a later post, but suffice it to say for now that I have retro dated several posts because I dropped the ball and didn't hit the mark I was going for. So rather than try to take you all for dummies and pretend like you all just missed them, I figured I'd be the dummy and admit that I'm backdating them. Why? Keep reading. :D

Zone 4 Updates

2009-09-30T20:19:00.000-04:00

I'm not going into any details at all here, but suffice it to say that you will soon notice some changes on the Zone 4 Podcast. We've had some shaky weeks of late, and recent developments have been trying. But we are more than soldiering on, we are forging ahead with gusto! So keep listening and stay tuned!

Happy Birthday, Comic Related!

2009-09-30T17:03:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow, October 1st is Comic Related's 5th Anniversary! The site has grown exponentially, and it continues to grow. I got a peek at the numbers we're pulling on the site and they are phenomenal!

This weekend we'll be celebrating the anniversary at Mid-Ohio-Con, so if you're there stop by the CR booth (#438) on Saturday.

Details are forthcoming on www.comicrelated.com.

The Job

2009-09-30T15:14:00.000-04:00

For those wondering, I've yet to hear the final decision about the job I mentioned a few posts back. As soon as I know for certain I'll let you all know.

Drawing

2009-09-30T15:10:00.000-04:00

I've really had the itch to draw more and more lately, just haven't yet found the time to devote to it. I really wanted to have some art to show or sell at the con this weekend, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen.

I am also dying to start this web strip idea of mine, but again, I have to find the time to devote to it. I want to do it all on the strip, from pencils, to inks, to colors, to letters, to writing of course. I want to really devote some serious time into it to improve my craft before debuting it. It would have been cool to debut it at the con, but it's just not happening. Maybe the next one.

Regardless, I am starting to draw more. I even pulled out some of my old art and was looking at the flaws so I could pay attention on areas I need improvement. I hope I can reignite the passion I once had for art. It was such a big part of me for many years. I feel like it's a part of me that's missing.

So I plan on doing my best to rectify that as I can. Wish me luck!

I'm On a Panel!

2009-09-30T14:04:00.000-04:00

This weekend at Mid-Ohio-Con I will be on my first panel, speaking on independent comics. I'm pretty excited about it, and I'll be joined by some wonderful people. Chuck Moore will be moderating, and some of the panel guests include Eric Adams, Lora Innes, Dustin Carson and Bob Corby. So it should be a blast.

I'd be lying if I said at first I wasn't a little nervous. After all, I only found out I was on the panel today! But I plan on having fun with it, and if anyone gets anything out of something I say, then cool.

So, if you're planning on being in the Columbus, Ohio area this Sunday, at 3pm you should come to the con at the Convention Center and check out my panel! :)

I'll be at my booth the rest of the con. I don't know the booth number yet, but you shouldn't miss the giant Wannabez banner behind me. :)

Wannabez Pinup Contest

2009-09-28T07:59:00.003-04:00

For those of you not following the Wannabez blog or checking out my forums, Twitter or Facebook, we are holding a Wannabez pinup contest.

The winning entry, which will be announced at this weekend's Mid-Ohio-Con and subsequently on ComicRelated.com, will be published in a special edition of the Wannabez #1 preview issue and will receive a prize package including books, prints and other cool stuff.

The deadline is THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2nd! So get on the ball with your pinup!

All the details can be found by clicking the title of this post. Entries already posted in the contest can be found here.

If you don't want to post your entries in the forums, you can email them to me at wannabez @ brantfowler.com

You are allowed to enter multiple pieces, and any medium is acceptable.

You retain rights to your art, but we reserve the right to publish it of course. Non-winning entries will go up on our website.

Have fun!

Rough Weekend

2009-09-27T00:33:00.002-04:00

The past couple of days have been rough. I had planned on spending all day and night Friday working my butt off on stuff, pulling an all-nighter, but things didn't quite work out as well as I had hoped.

I did do a lot of lettering including finishing up a graphic novel I was only slightly over halfway finished with, and I did some posts on CR including editing and posting the Zone 4 podcast Friday, so it's not like nothing got done.

But I had forgotten about said podcast until the last minute and it took me forever to edit for some reason. I ended up having to delay it for two hours in fact. And after that was up I did a little lettering then was just spent. So I relaxed a bit, watched a little TV and ate, because I had to record next week's podcast last night.

That podcast had a rough start and some other issues that all worked themselves out, but afterwards it was after 1am and by that point I was not feeling an all-nighter at all. So I tried to stick with it until about 2am and finally crashed. Got up at 6 this morning and worked until about 3pm and crashed again. Got up at 8pm, watched a little TV, ate and then tried to get into work again to no avail.

Right now I'm totally exhausted, but I'm not sleepy. I'm not feeling like doing anything at all. Not reading, not watching TV, not sleeping, not working, not anything at all. So here I sit whining about it all. heh.

Nah, I'm good, really, just feeling the burn and the constant schedule (I never take a full day off, ever, even on the weekends) is wearing on me. I really need and want a vacation, but can't afford it this year. And the car's down, so it's not like I can get out of the house, and that's what I really need. I stare at these walls way too much.

But it's all good, I'll be fine, and all is well. I'm just having one of those days and didn't feel like doing anything but blogging about it. heh.

Moving on, I am still going to plow through all the work ahead of me. I'm still waiting to hear the final word about this new job, which looks to now be part-time. So I'll still be doing everything else I've been doing on top of it.

Tomorrow I don't imagine I'm going to do much actual work. What I am going to do is sit down with everything currently on my plate and anticipate the time needing spent on this new job and really make myself a schedule to stick to, at least until I knock this current workload out. I tend to jump around from thing to thing as monotony and repetition REALLY stall me bad as I hate that, and I hate 9-5 schedules. Tried many times in office jobs and was just absolutely miserable doing that. I do what I have to, but I avoid that as much as possible. But right now I need to get a handle on this stuff and really stick to it until I knock each item out.

So be looking for updates on all my current projects soon.

As for tomorrow, if I'm not doing much work and I'm just focusing on scheduling, what in the world am I actually going to do with the rest of the day? I have no idea. It's not like I'm going anywhere, so I may work on some personal projects, I may just veg out, or I may end up actually working knowing me. We'll see.

Back On Top of Things

2009-09-18T16:12:00.002-04:00

The other day I was having a rough day. I've got a good grip on things and a plan of attack. Fear not, I am not overwhelmed, I'm just busy. And that's a good thing. So bear with me a short while longer and all will be good.

Tomorrow I will be going up to Florence for Comicpalooza. If you're up that way swing in and say hello. If not, fine, be that way. :)

Sunday I'll be working on DC Solicitations for CR, and Monday probably Marvel ones. Tuesday and at night I'll be hard at work on everything else. I plan on wrapping some things up by next Friday. We'll see how well that goes.

Cross your fingers for me, I'm waiting to hear back about a very promising and possibly full-time freelance job, which would do wonders for me. So wish me luck or say a prayer!

Under the Wire

2009-09-16T14:03:00.002-04:00

Man, I am swimming in backlog at the moment. I've got so much to do I have trouble figuring out where to start and focusing on one thing at a time. Mostly because I have certain things I need to do every day, then other stuff that needs full days to be focused on, which I can't give them.

I'm trying to catch up, folks, but it's just taking me much longer than I expected or could possibly anticipate.

Health is good, getting back to normal. Though I had the worst gall bladder attack last night that I've had in months. I had actually gone nearly two months without one, then last night one hit me hard for about 6 hours. But I'm ok today. Been working for about 8 hours so far as I type this, and it feels like I've been swimming in place because I can't see that a whole lot got done, sad as it is. And I'm talking no food breaks, no nothing, just sitting here straight through.

Why can't I just be swimming in Hawaii, Saint Tropez, or at least Florida...

Out of town for the

2009-09-12T05:13:00.001-04:00

Out of town for the day... up in Springfield, OH for a one-day con.

Woe is Me

2009-09-08T06:27:00.002-04:00

Yep, another health report. While the ears are still on the mend (the left one's still stopped up), my back has gotten considerably worse.

Well, I say my back, but now I'm pretty certain it's my right hip and it's out of whack somehow.

Yesterday I sat down at the computer around 8am with the intention of working all day, but by 10 the pain in my lower back was so severe I couldn't sit up straight, so I spent the whole day and night in bed. The good thing is this afforded me the opportunity to watch the entire Band of Brothers series when I wasn't dozing off, and it was really good. I'm not one much for war shows or films, especially concerning the Holocaust during WWII, but this series, based on a novel, which was based on true events, was really good.

In another bit of good news, my new eating habits are already paying off as I've lost 4 pounds in less than a week. Now, for those of you who think that sounds a bit unhealthy, let me assure you that I am eating three square meals a day plus snacks, all healthy, and I'd say some of those four pounds was simply water. Still, I view it as an accomplishment and I'm going to stick to it. Last year I lost 23 pounds, and gained 33 back over the holidays. I'm now on my way once again to getting back down to where I'm comfortable. Not that I look particularly huge thanks to my large and wide body frame, but I don't feel like myself. Truth be told, I wouldn't mind my current weight were it all muscle, but sadly it's not, so off it goes.

The hard part is I can't do much in the way of exercise until I get this hip back in shape.

Today I am once again attempting to sit at the computer and work, in a different chair mind you with some pillows that have me reclining ever so slightly, which takes off the pressure. We'll see how long it lasts.

I was so upset yesterday because I had so much to do and couldn't do it. This week I have things coming up that I need to be in good condition for, and I really need to get some of this work behind me before all that, so I'm hoping it gets in good order soon.

Anyway, I've rambled on enough and am now fully awake. I'm gonna eat a little breakfast and try to get to work. Wish me luck!

Busy Month Ahead

2009-09-06T10:32:00.002-04:00

The next few weeks are going to be extremely busy for me, so I won't be posting much and won't be on social networks or forums too much either. I doubt I'll even be on AIM much.

But before I get into all that, I want to let you all know that I am doing better. The ears are still stopped up, but not as bad, and a lot of the swelling has gone down. I had just a bit of ache in one ear yesterday, but aside from that I've had no pain for a few days. I seem to have caught a bit of something else, though, or maybe it's part of this, as I've had a fever the past day or two that's made me nauseous and drowsy, but that's a minor thing in the grand scheme of things.

I haven't had trouble with the gall stones for quite some time now. Probably the longest spurt between attacks since I got out of the hospital last March. So that's a good thing.

I have been really watching what I eat and am trying to slim down a bit anyway (though I still eat enough, trust me), so evidently that's helped in fighting off those problems.

Now, onto the busy part, which I may have mentioned here before (I can't recall and I'm too lazy to look back through the posts, so forgive me if I'm being repetitive). The next four weekends are tied up for me. This coming weekend is a one day con in Springfield, Ohio called Champion City Comic Con that I'll be attending with Comic Related. I'll have some of my books there, signed, if anyone wants to stop by and pick any up.

The next weekend is Comicpalooza at Comics2Games in Florence. It's kind of like a second Free Comic Book Day that apparently I'm helping run, and there will be free books, signings and all kinds of fun.

The following weekend is Chuck Moore's 40th birthday celebration at his farm and there will be a whole bunch of people attending including yours truly. It'll be a blast.

And finally, the first weekend of October is Mid-Ohio-Con at which I will have a table and will be selling Wannabez and some books I've lettered (like Descendant and Zombie Cop from Image).

In between all that, I have several lettering projects going on. This weekend and into the week I'm working on finishing up the Suicide Note graphic novel. I'm also lettering this week 3rd System #1, Black Paw #1, and resizing The Supremacy #2.

I have a couple of logos I'm working on as well this week.

And of course there's the regular workload of Haven submissions and solicitations, and posts on Comic Related.

Thursday we'll be recording next week's Zone 4.

Next week is going to be crazy because I'll be developing two magazines in the new CXP magazine and the Haven catalog simultaneously as it turns out. They were to be spaced out, but schedule changes caused this overlap that is stressing me out a bit.

On top of that, this coming weekend I imagine Marvel and DC solicitations will be in, so I'll have to do those as well, and those take pretty much a whole working day apiece the way I do them, which we at CR feel are the best out there.

Somewhere in the midst of all this I have to find time to exercise, write a little, do the Haven and CXP newsletters, and sleep! We'll see how that last one goes...

Man, What a Week

2009-09-03T12:44:00.002-04:00

This week has been a nightmare really. I've still got the ear infections of course, and the hearing is not great because of it. And with both ears being swollen and me used to sleeping on my stomach (I can't sleep on my back, believe me I've tried countless times), it becomes very difficult to sleep. So I wind up sleeping for a couple of hours and waking up. So needless to say I've been very exhausted all week. Right now my eyes have ten gallon bags under them and they are struggling to stay open.

On top of those woes, I've had demands on all sides to get this or that done. And try as I may to accommodate everyone, it just hasn't happened. I've been very stressed out about it trying to deliver everyone's stuff at the same time all while being ill. And as I explained in a previous post, things are just going to get busier for the rest of the month.

But I am not down or defeated. I'm staying pretty positive, keeping the faith, and hacking away piece-by-piece at the workload. So any of my clients that happen to read this, please bear with me.

The Bug Has Bitten

2009-08-30T15:09:00.003-04:00

Yes, I've still got the ear infections, and every time they seem to start to clear up, they get worse again. It also seems to be jumping back and forth between the ears at the level of the swelling/pain. But I haven't had a lot of aches and pains today or yesterday, just can't hear and it's uncomfortable. The left ear right now is throbbing a little though.

But that's not the bug I was referring to. The writing bug has grabbed a hold of me. Last night I pulled out my notes from a fantasy novel I started to write about 6 years ago, read through them, and got excited again. So I started further plotting it out and got even more excited. I'm hoping I can maintain that level of excitement throughout and continue working away on that in my spare time.

I have some other stuff going on that I mentioned in my forums as well.

Thanks to Ross who pointed me to a gig, I picked up another cover/logo design job, which then turned into a lettering job as well. Yes, I have a lot on my plate, but this was a good gig to get, so I'll just have to up my game.

Over the weekend I cleared out some Haven emails and hacked my way through submissions and about half of the solicitations we've received recently. Tomorrow will be more of the same of that.

I also managed to make a few posts to Comic Related today. I've only made a handful all week, but today I cued several, so I was happy about that.

By this coming weekend I have a full issue and a graphic novel I have to finish. Then it will be mainly work on the Haven catalog (in which YOU can advertise in at low, discounted rates right now!) with lettering thrown in between for a couple of weeks.

September is a busy month as I have something going on three weekends in a row, followed by the first weekend of October. So the next two weeks I'll be immersing myself in lettering and catalog work so I don't fall behind. So be warned, you probably won't see me online a lot the next couple of weeks.

I'll also be squeezing in Comics XP stuff for the newsletter and ads to keep that moving for my part in it.

And finally, Zone 4 is looking for guests as Chuck K. announced on the CR forums.

Enjoy what's left of your weekend, folks!

Say What...?

2009-08-27T08:32:00.002-04:00

Well, yesterday I thought I was feeling better. My left ear, the one I can't hear out of, had started to drain and the swelling went down, and so I assumed I was getting better. And the right ear was just a little swollen.

Late last night and into this morning things changed a bit. While the left ear is still about the same as described above, and I still can't hear out of it, the right ear took a turn for the worse. It is now quite swollen and painful, and I'm starting to lose hearing in it as well. So unless things change real quick, I'd say by tomorrow I won't be able to hear out of either ear.

Like I said before, I can't afford to go to the doctor, so I've been popping Advil at the suggested dosage and amounts every 4-6 hours as Advil is an anti-inflammatory medication. Seems to have helped, but not good enough of fast enough. But I'll keep hanging in there.

I did manage to get a little bit of work done yesterday as I was feeling better. Today I'm going to try again, but if my right ear gets any worse I'm gonna have to call it quits and put a heat pack on it in hopes that it too will go down.

As for my back, it was better yesterday, barely in pain at all. Then late in the night it started hurting again as well, and this morning it's pretty stiff and achy. My knee was also giving me trouble yesterday.

I hate being sick, and it seems I've been sick a lot this year with this or that. I also hate whining about this crap, but I figure you all need or want to know what's going on with me, so there it is.

Thanks for all the concerns and well wishes and prayers, I appreciate them all.

Still Down

2009-08-25T07:42:00.002-04:00

The ear infection has gotten worse unfortunately. I spent all day yesterday in bed with a heat pack on, and thought it was getting better. But when I woke up it was actually worse and had spread into my other ear.

My left ear canal is swollen and filled with fluid, and I can't hear out of it. My right ear is now swollen and starting to get stiff. Yesterday I got really nauseous and stayed just tired enough to not move around much. Plus the pain was pretty bad early in the day with aches and throbbing. It subsided a bit in the night, but like I said, got worse when I woke up.

On top of that, I've done something to my lower back as well. It's actually swollen, and I'm having a hard time even getting up off the couch or out of bed. I sat on the edge of the bed yesterday and tried to put my pants on, but couldn't lift my leg it hurt my back so much.

I've been taking motrin, but it hasn't helped either problem much. I know I need an antibiotic for the ear infection, but I can't afford to go to the doctor, so I'm hoping it will pass or not get worse until I get a check.

I am going to try to work a little bit today as it hurts whether I'm laying down or not, and I don't want to fall too far behind. We'll see how it goes.

Before I go, since I haven't had a chance to say so yet, this past Saturday was really fun. We had a Comics XP meeting, but I was also persuaded into an art contest, which was complete laughs from start to finish. It's always fun going up to Comics 2 Games.

Down and out today w

2009-08-24T09:53:00.001-04:00

Down and out today with an ear infection. I'll hopefully be back on and around tomorrow.

Missing Nana

2009-08-18T11:37:00.002-04:00

Sixteen years ago today my Nana passed away. I was 16 years old and it was a church night (Wednesday). She had been sick for a while (cancer), and had been sent home as there was nothing else that could be done for her. My mom and aunts were with her in those last moments while my cousin and I were at church.

That night as we were being taken home by someone in the church we got lost on the way home. We ended up on the opposite side of town and had to turn around in a graveyard. The graveyard had a huge fountain in the middle of the entrance, which we circled. As we did, I saw a white figure shoot by it. I turned around to try to see it again, but it was gone.

Shortly after my cousin and I got to my place my mom called to let us know Nana had passed away. I was in shock. I laughed. I do that sometimes when I'm at a loss for what emotion to display. It's out of disbelief more than anything.

See, I was very close to Nana. We lived with my grandparents from the time I was 5 until around 13 or 14. My mom worked well into the night, so Nana would be who I'd see after school and who I would spend time with every day. We'd play games, watch TV, talk and so on and so forth. I loved her. She was a precious lady. A very strong-minded and blunt lady, but a loving lady. And most importantly she believed in me when I felt no one else did.

I love her and I miss her more than words could say.

The last words I remember her saying to me as I visited her in the hospital shortly before she was sent home was "straighten up and fly right". I promised her I would, and that became a major changing point in my life soon after.

I probably didn't think much of it at the time, but after she passed I changed. I grew up really fast, not just because of that, but because I had to. My brother was a year old and his dad had passed away several months earlier. My mom had to work, and I was already graduated from school. So I had to man up and take care of my brother and be responsible, more responsible than I had ever been. I changed that year. I got more serious about things, more dedicated and passionate about church, family and life. It was a defining moment in my life as every time I slack off on anything or act out or act up, if you will, my Nana's words echo in my ears.

I'm far from perfect, and so was Nana, as is everyone, but she was and always will be precious to me. And those words that changed my life still change my life to this day.

At her funeral I wore a red dress shirt. She always said I looked good in red, but I didn't like wearing the color. For her I did. A little too late, but it was important to me. My then pastor's daughter, Jessica, sang Peace Speaker at the funeral, which is a beautiful song, and every time I hear it now I get choked up. Ironically, Jessica's birthday is the same day as the day of my Nana's passing (today - so happy b-day, Jess). Over the years every time Jessica would have a birthday it was a constant reminder of who I'd lost. But then I remembered the song she sang at Nana's funeral and it brought me comfort.

I wish my brother could have known Nana better. I wish Nana would be around for my own kids should I ever have any. But that evidently wasn't God's plan, and I know He is taking care of her. I am convinced that night in the graveyard, the very same graveyard she ended up being buried at, God was giving me a sign that He had her in His care. Nothing will ever convince me otherwise.

Nana, I love you dearly and I wish you were here. But I know you're in a better place away from the suffering of this world. I miss you, and may God keep you.

What's On Deck

2009-08-14T13:22:00.004-04:00

This week has been a nightmare. I'm not sure why, but for the better part of more than half the week I was having a major grumpy attitude about everything. I was just frustrated, stressed out, and therefore didn't get much accomplished. I fell off the radar and just didn't want to be bothered for about two and a half days. Though I did do some work, I didn't get nearly what I wanted to accomplished.

So here it is Friday and I'm in much better spirits. You'd think I worked on office job where today's the last day of the work week! Not so with me since I work from home. Every day is a work day, many days longer than the normal 8 hours. Which is probably why every once in a while I have a week like this. I keep saying I need a vacation, and as soon as I can afford one I'm taking one!

With all that out of the way, there are some things I'm hoping to accomplish this weekend and thought I'd list them here for my clients to see that I am actually doing something. These are in random order, not order of priority or the order I'm working on them, just so everyone's clear.

DC Solicits for ComicRelated.com (it's that time again)
Haven Submissions (got a whole pile to go through again)
Lettering for a Tutorial (8 page project (I think) for Sketch Magazine)
CXP Newsletter Design (at least the start of it, with help from others)
CXP Button/Banner Ads (at least a start)
Black Paw lettering (at least layouts and a start on them)
3rd System #1 lettering (I hope to get at least half the issue done)
Suicide Note lettering (got to get as much done as I can, though Mon-Tue will be the focus for it)

There's more I hope to accomplish, but I don't want to overwhelm myself, so these are the things I'm focusing on first.

And lastly before I bring this post to a close, though I seriously doubt they'll read this, I'd like to wish both David and Jamie a Happy Birthday today.

Next week I'll be on point and really busting things out... I hope!

Still Here... Barely

2009-08-01T06:45:00.001-04:00

As you know if you read my last post, I had a relapse of my cold yesterday. Well, I was so drained from it I passed out about 6pm last night and slept until nearly 10. Then I couldn't get back to sleep all night as hard as I tried.

I tried watching TV, tried reading, tried taking a hot bath, tried just going to sleep, but nada on all fronts. Nothing worked. So here I am almost nine hours later still extremely tired, but unable to sleep.

This cold is a strange one. I mainly feel rundown, but I'm starting to get it in my nose and throat. But the strange thing is it gets me really wired, like I can't sit still. And when I try I'm constantly fidgeting or shaking my leg or something. But then the fever rises and I just want to pass out, but more times than not I can't. Very odd cold this one.

At any rate, I figure since I'm up at nearly 7am I might as well try to get some things done before trying to sleep again as at the moment I'm still wired. And no, I haven't been drinking a lot of caffeine. I had one cup of coffee yesterday morning that I blogged about yesterday. And I've only had one pop and a bit of iced tea, but mostly water.

Hey, at least it stopped raining.

Coffee, Rain and Sniffles

2009-07-31T02:57:00.002-04:00

So it's nearly 3am on Friday morning, it just started pouring rain and I'm sick. My cup is also empty, so it's about time for a refill.

Now, any of you who know me know I'm not a coffee drinker. In fact, normally I hate the stuff. Never did drink it, not even in college. But a while back while working on the first Haven catalog I downed it like water for a weekend. I still wasn't addicted and dropped it for a long while. But tonight I needed the help to stay awake to get some work done.

I can tolerate it black, but I don't like it. So I usually put a little sugar in it, sometimes cinnamon. I watch a lot of Food Network TV, so I got inspired tonight. I added a teaspoon of cocoa, a little sugar and a dash of cayenne pepper, topped with a dollop of cool whip.

Yep, you read that right... cayenne pepper. I watched a recipe on hot chocolate using some heat like that, and cayenne pepper is what I had on hand, and it does indeed leave a burning sensation in your throat, which I like on occasion. So it turned out pretty good I have to say. And it gave me just enough buzz to stay up a little longer and get some stuff accomplished.

As for being sick, I was pretty much bed-ridden for the better part of two days earlier this week and thought I had shook it. In fact, I had woke up Thursday morning completely energized, bouncing off the walls and feeling productive. I even bragged about it to Chuck Moore on IM. But that thing about speaking to soon? Yeah, it's true. Not much long after that the fever hit me again full on. Then later... I don't know really how to describe this, but you know that feeling when you feel a cold coming on, when you breathe in and the air tastes and smells a little different in the back of your mouth and nose, and you just know you're getting sick? Well that's how I felt tonight. Right now the fever has settled down, but I still have that taste and smell. So we'll see how Friday plays out.

I am so sick of rain. Granted, at the moment, in the middle of the night, as the rain patters down on the roof, it is peaceful. But Kentucky weather is really awful and more times it's dreary than not. I so long for the beach. Even if it was raining, I just love that environment. Cali, one day I will make it there.

How's work coming, you ask? It's coming along. Covering the Comic Related site through the con, then getting sick immediately after put me a little behind, but I've gotten caught up on most of it. Just a couple of things I'm straggling behind a bit on, but I'll make it up.

I was supposed to go up to Florence for a CXP meeting this weekend, but we postponed it until Monday night and made it a Skype conference call instead. I always look forward to going up to Florence, and I would have stayed the night with Darren and crew this time, which would have been a blast. But I have to say after a very busy week last week and over the weekend, then being behind this week, the weekend to myself to catch up and recuperate is looking awfully good. Now if I can just get through Friday!

Sometimes I think I've spread myself too thin with all the obligations I've gotten myself laden with, but I still feel it's worth it, and every single one of them I'm glad I have. I believe Haven, Comic Related and CXP are all going somewhere someday, and lettering has been my door to the industry, and I've had the opportunity to work on some really cool books. So I can't be ungrateful or regrettable about any of that in the least. Quite the opposite in fact. Things could be better, but things are good right now. I've got good friends, I've got some steady work, other not so steady work, and despite whatever problems I face I can usually find the positives in them. So I'm good. Still, it'd be nice if Wannabez would sell like gangbusters! =)

On that note, I think the coffee has worn out, the sniffles are getting worse, and rain is still pattering away. Probably time for a little shuteye...

Busy, Busy, Busy...

2009-07-20T13:27:00.003-04:00

I'm not even gonna apologize for my silence this time. I've been extremely busy and still am!

This morning I finished the DC solicits for posting later this afternoon. I also finished designing the background for a blog over at Comic Related. And I recorded the now weekly Warp Wrap podcast recapping stories from the past week on Comic Related.

I am now finishing lettering the Corrective Measures Vol 2 TPB. I got a later start than I intended today (wasn't feeling well late into the night last night), which has to be completed by the end of the day! I will pull it off, but I'm having to go completely silent to do so, but I wanted to get a blog post up before I did.

I'm also producing about 5 pages a day for Suicide Note from Hard Way Studios, though I missed yesterday. I'll probably miss today as well and have to make up the difference tomorrow to stay on task.

Descendant #3 from Image is also on the slate as I have to get that complete by the end of the month at the absolute latest.

I have a few logos I have to work on at some point, of course still plenty of Haven stuff to do on a near daily basis, and various other jobs that I don't have time to list.

Compound with that the fact that I have to prep Marvel solicits for tomorrow to post. Those take me about 3-4 hours to do because I do them up real nice.

The latter half of this week I need to have my schedule as clear as I can make it because I'll be covering the site with reports coming in from San Diego Comic-Con to post.

So it's yet another busy week for me. I've got to go letter now. Be cool.

Craziness All Around

2009-07-01T21:06:00.002-04:00

I had to take a short break from everything I'm doing just to let it all out and get out of my head for a moment, so bear with me.

It's been an extremely busy month this past month, and things don't look to be letting up yet. If only I was getting paid enough to match all the work I'm doing I'd be very well off. But alas, yon freelancing isn't what it used to be. But I'm surviving.

I've briefly explained it before, but all at once several things slammed me at once and collided into one another and left me gasping for air. I'm pulling myself out of the workload slowly, but surely, but it has taken its toll on me.

As soon as I catch up all this stuff I've been working day and night to clear out, I'm taking a short break. No internet, no work, no nothing. Just a couple of days of vegging out because I haven't been able to do that in a LONG time.

If you are waiting on work from me, please know that it is coming. It's the blessing and curse of a freelancer that there will be times when there's no work to be found, then there will be loads of work to the point past exhaustion. That's where I've been. Sadly, I'm in the phase where I have tons of work and no money coming in, which is never a good scenario. But again, I'll survive.

Added to the craziness swirling around me, Michael Jackson passed away nearly a week ago. To say I took it hard would be a gross understatement. Say what you will about the man, and believe what you will believe of the allegations, but he was the greatest musical entertainer that ever lived in my opinion, and he was a huge inspiration on me musically and creatively. I grew up on his music and his influence on the music industry will be felt forever. He was an innovator and musical genius. I am saddened by his troubled life, but I am glad he has hopefully found peace now.

Don't you hate it when you order food and they take forever to get it there. And when they do it's not only cold, but it's wrong after an hour of waiting. Then when you request them to fix it you're still sitting here nearly two hours later waiting for the correct thing to arrive so you can finally eat after having not eaten all day. And today I've been up since 3am. That's a LONG time going without food when you've been working nonstop. I'm ready for some food!!! I better get something free out of this!

I want to thank some close friends for all their support for me as I trudge on day to day. You know who you are. Thank you.

July will be rough, but fun. August will be very interesting. I'll explain later.

Alright, I've wasted enough time. I need to do something. Either get back to work or hop on the phone to see what's up with my food!

Mad Rush to the Finish Line

2009-06-24T18:14:00.003-04:00

I'm feeling a bit pensive today and a little disconcerted. Pensive in that I'm reflecting on a lot of things right now, disconcerted by behaviors and situations surrounding me. I guess I'm also a bit antsy with projects nearing deadlines as well.

If you haven't guessed, I'm back from Heroes Con and the pressure has hit me. I had a great and rejuvenating time at the show, but coming back was arduous and what awaited us all was frustrating and aggravating. All of us have our own reasons for that.

For me, I have two or more lettering projects needing to be worked on, but at the same time the Haven catalog has to be finished by tomorrow night! So the coffee was flowing today, even though I'm not a coffee drinker. I had very little sleep and I've been working all day on the catalog.

I won't discuss what's specifically bothering me, but it's funny how the general mood over the weekend was so "up" and how the general mood from all sides afterward is in drastic contrast.

This weekend is supposed to be a Comic Related retreat of sorts. Several members of ComicRelated.com will be heading over to Chuck Moore's house for a Transformers filled weekend and some discussion about the site and where it's headed. But the way things are going I'm beginning to wonder if that won't be postponed.

The status of Zone 4 for the moment is also being debated as technical issues, time constraints and formatting issues are becoming a problem. The show will stick around, but there will be changes and there may be a hiatus, I don't know yet.

I'm not sure what to think of some recent happenings, and my brain is too heavy laden at the moment to try to figure them out.

The onset of Summer is having the affect of Winter, and that's not a good thing. Hopefully that dread that has seemingly set in all around me will lift. Oddly enough, I myself have been pretty upbeat all week until late yesterday when a couple of things hit me. But I'm still the most "up" of those around me it would seem.

I should really be working right now, and I'm not sure how to close this. Just felt like saying something and getting it off my chest a bit. I know it's very vague and maybe even cryptic, but it is what it is. Nothing to worry about, just an odd feeling in the air right now. I'm sure like any flurry it will pass soon enough and all will be back on track.

For now, the Haven catalog pages are calling, not to mention the lettering clients. Onward and upward!

Heroes Con 2009

2009-06-17T07:30:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow I leave for the better part of five days heading down to Charlotte, NC for HeroesCon!

I've always heard great things about this con over the years, but I've never been. I am looking forward to it though, so I hope to see you there!

I'll be going along with the crew from ComicRelated.com, so I may be doing an interview or three throughout, and I'll be posting to the site live from the show.

At some point, we'll be recording a special episode of the Zone 4 podcast from the show as well! Granted, my fellow regular Zone 4 'casters can't be there, but Chuck Moore, John Wilson and Darren Mueller will be filling in.

I'll also have some copies of Wannabez and Zombie Cop there if you want to swing by the CR table (in the podcast area) and purchase some copies. :)

We're heading out at 7am Est tomorrow and won't be returning until Monday afternoon/evening. I should have internet access, but I don't know how often I'll be able to access it. So if you can't get a hold of me, this is why.

If you're going to be there I hope to see you. If not, I'll tell you all about it when I get back. :D

On other matters, I have been completely swamped for the better part of two months. Figures every time I make a declaration here that I'll start posting more I get so busy I just can't. But hey, at least I'm here now, right? Right?

Lettering is steadily being caught up, though I'm once again working on the Haven catalog, so time is being eaten up by that as well.

Wannabez is stalled for the time being.

I'll have more updates soon, but right now I've got too much to do before tomorrow gets here!

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-25T18:50:00.002-04:00

Not the most original title of a blog post, but it is what it is, and I mean it. Today is a celebration and remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Those who gave their lives to defend this country and what we believe in and stand for. And as such, let's honor those fallen heroes on this, their day.

That said, I hope everyone out there is enjoying the holiday and is spending time with family, friends or loved ones and is having a good time. Here it's nice weather (a little too nice given that my AC is on the fritz) and the grills are out and people are making the most of it. Me, I've mostly been working all day, but I'm still enjoying it as I do love what I do.

Things have been kind of stressful of late, work wise and personal wise, but I won't bore you with any of that. The important thing is good things are always on the horizon. As I look ahead at the year planned out before me it should be a lot of fun, and hopefully a little fruitful, everything I'll be doing. And I'll get to hang out with some really good friends, which is the best part of it all.

Summer officially begins in less than a month, and this holiday is always seen as kind of the kick-off to the season, so with that, I wish everyone a happy, safe, fun and blessed summer ahead.

Now, I've gotta get back to work, but don't worry, I am taking out a little time for some relaxation today as well.

Been Very Busy...

2009-05-20T09:48:00.002-04:00

Sorry for not popping in, folks, it's just been very hectic. I've had so much going on that I've fallen behind on a few things and I'm daily struggling to catch up.

It's true, it seems I took on a bit more than I could handle, but it wasn't intentional. The way these things go with freelance sometimes is that you'll have several things lined up, but delays will happen, or things will come through early, and then you're left with a whole lot of things hitting your plate all at once and it's very hard to keep up.

This is what has happened to me for the past couple of months. I've got a grip on it, though, and am once again making my way through the pile piece by piece.

Inevitably, what follows an event like that is a long lull where I wonder where the next gig will come from. Hopefully that won't be the case here and things will stay steady. We'll see.

It doesn't help matters that I got sick again this week and am quite under the weather as I type this. But the world goes on and so do my responsibilities, so here I am.

I just wanted to give you all an update on where things are with me. I'm low on money so I have to get these gigs finished and try to find some new ones. So I'll be toiling away constantly until everything is finished as much as I can stand it and stay with it until this cold clears.

I did manage to get out and see some movies recently. I saw Wolverine and Star Trek. Wolverine was pretty good, Star Trek was awesome! Best movie I've seen in nearly a year hands down. Of course, for me Dark Knight and Iron Man were better, but this movie is fantastic. Thank goodness matinee prices are cheaper here than up north or out west.

I also saw Yes Man on DVD. Red Box $1 rentals are nice! It was an ok movie. Had some funny parts in it.

The comic strip "It's All Related" on ComicRelated.com is going well. We've had three strips go live so far and everyone's digging it.

Podcasts are also going well. We've got a growing fanbase and our numbers for the show so far, which is only 8 episodes in, are really good. Keep listening!

My next trip will be next month to Heroes Con in Charlotte. I'm hitching a ride with Chuck Moore and crashing in his room as well, and getting in as press, so I couldn't pass all that up. Always wanted to go, but could never afford to make the trek on my own.

Wannabez seems to be at a stand still at the moment. Hopefully things will work out where we can get that ball rolling again, among other things.

Aside from all that, all is well.

Free Comics and Movies

2009-05-02T06:20:00.003-04:00

Man, I had this nice, long post going and my browser crashed and I lost the entire thing! Sigh, been one of those weeks.

Anyway, today, as I've mentioned before, I will be in Florence, KY at Comics 2 Games for Free Comic Book Day, and I'll have Wannabez copies there, so swing by!

I was supposed to go see X-Men Origins: Wolverine afterward, but last night Scott, who is my ride home, said the movie was off with no explanation or reason. When I asked him why he never responded, so who knows? It bites though because at first I was a little stressed about it because I didn't really have the funds for it. Then I got a payment and was really looking forward to it. Then boom, out of the blue at 10 at night or around there I'm told it's off with no explanation. Bummer.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go see it by myself Sunday afternoon. Sigh.

This has been a long few weeks as I explained, I believe, last post. I still have to finish up lettering on Descendant #1 from Image Comics, but after that I'm taking a day or two off to just regroup and relax. Believe me, I need it.

Speaking of the past few weeks, a bit of announcement about the Haven catalog. As you may know, the catalog comes out later this month, but in June the catalog will be available ONLINE for FREE! That's right, now everyone will be able to see my handiwork and what gave me many sleepless nights putting it together. And you'll also, of course, be able to see all the wonderful titles Haven distributes.

Plans are for the online version to be available in three formats including PDF, CBZ and some kind of dynamic comic reader app. There are also plans for it to be available on mobile devices. So there will be options.

Man, for some reason our air conditioning hasn't been working properly of late. It will kick on occasionally and blow out really faintly, then shut down and we can't get it back on. It's been nearly 80 degrees in the house for the past three days and the only fan we have is this little bitty thing that makes a ton of racket and doesn't do much good.

But that's not your problem, is it? Heh.

Okay, I'm leaving in just over two hours as I type this and still have to shower and gather things together. And first I need to wake up a bit as my eyes are still puffy and I'm still tired. We recorder a podcast last night and it ran late, so I got into bed close to 1am and got up at about 5:30am. So yeah...

Speaking of podcasts, if you haven't noticed, the latest episode of Zone 4 is live and on the site, so please give it a listen. You can also subscribe to it via iTunes (though for now you have to do an advanced search to find it) and via RSS feed.

Oh, and one more thing I MUST mention. TODAY, my new web comic goes live on ComicRelated.com! It's called "It's All Related" and is written by myself and Darren Mueller with art by Jackie Hernandez and Darren. It's a fun, comical strip featuring the staff, members and some fans of Comic Related as if we were all in an actual office. Fun stuff, and the first strip is hilarious. If you're aware at all of CR's transformation previously you'll totally get the gag. If not, well, I'll be on here explaining it so you will. :)

And with that, I have a long day ahead of me and hopefully it will be fun. I'll be among friends talking it up and hopefully moving some Wannabez, so we'll see. We had planned to have a minicomic for free, but Scott sliced his finger, so that put a halt on that. Oh well. At any rate, should be a fun day.

It's Done!

2009-04-30T14:02:00.003-04:00

Finally, the Haven catalog for May is complete, and I can try to get back to normal. Well, at least until work on the next issue begins!

This has been a long ride, but a very fun one, and we've produced a catalog that I am very proud of and have my mark on in a huge way. I think people will really be impressed by this once it's out there.

For the remainder of this week I will be working on the Image comic I'm lettering, and then I'll be up at Comics 2 Games Saturday for Free Comic Book Day, my first one ever. Should be fun. Then Scott and I are going to see the Wolverine movie after, so I'm looking forward to that as well.

I've got a few things I'm again behind on because the Haven catalog pretty much consumed my life this month. Then Haven is the closest thing I have to a steady job outside the regular freelance ilk, so it had to.

Also, in case I haven't mentioned it before, I have been doing daily short podcasts on ComicRelated.com for the past couple of weeks. This is in addition to the weekly Zone 4 ones we're doing. It's called The Related Warp Wrap and is basically a 5 minute or so recap of the previous day's news, columns, reviews, etc.

Soon we'll be doing a new weekly review show under the Zone 4 banner as well. I'm really having a lot of fun with the podcasts.

Ok, back to work for me now. I'll try to post again soon.

Zone 4 Podcast Episode 4

2009-04-17T17:53:00.003-04:00

Zone 4 splits into its own feed from here on out, but can still be found at Comic Related. Check this week's out by clicking the title of this post. It was a blast and you'll be laughing and will be entertained. So take a listen and give us some feedback!

And you can always subscribe to the podcast's RSS feed by clicking the icon below:

Soon, Zone 4 will be available on iTunes!

Wannabez Video Interview

2009-04-15T23:31:00.002-04:00

I hate watching myself on this, and I need to lose some weight and get some sun! But anyway, here's an interview with me and Scott from Gem City talking about Wannabez:

One More Time

2009-04-15T17:12:00.002-04:00

Ok, so my most recent eBay auctions end tonight. One of them, Zombie Cop, which I lettered, has already ended for the third time with not one single sell. I'm not putting it back up there, so if you'd like to purchase a copy of that for a substantial discount from store price please hit me up.

For those not aware, it is an Image Comics title about a cop who sets out to find the cause for this disease that is turning everyone into zombie like beings. Problem is the cop has been infected as well and he slowly turns throughout the series while eating criminals to sate his hunger. 96 page sequential story followed by 30 or so pages of a prose story with spot illustrations taking place in the same "universe" as the sequential story. By Jeff Mariotte (look him up!) and Szymon Kudranski (fantastic artist).

I have 18 copies I'm willing to sell for $10-12 apiece (regular price is $15). So please, buy a copy!

The other auctions can be found here: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/gonzogoose777_W0QQ_dmdZ1QQ_ipgZ50QQ_sopZ12?_rdc=1

And while you're in a purchasing mood, by all means order a copy of Wannabez #0 if you haven't gotten one yet. I still have plenty of copies of that!

In other news, I'm still plugging away at the catalog. As I closed the last post, yes, I was being literal, and yes, I did get ill last night. Then I crashed and slept way too long, so now I'm scrambling. And that's where I'll be for the rest of the night, save for one hour dedicated to LOST.

I am toying with adding a weekly podcast update to the blog just to let you know my status on things. I attempted this once before a couple of years back, but I didn't know how to edit them then, so it was way too long, way too big of a file, and filled with tons of dead air, so I took it down. Now I have an idea of what I'm doing and thought it might be fun.

I've also toyed with doing the video journal thing and posting it up on YouTube and posting it here. The problem with both ideas is I have a feeling I'll start them, get busy, miss weeks at a time and never have too much interesting stuff to say in them. So I don't know. It would be fun, but I have to really consider if it's worth it, if there's any interest (FEEDBACK PLEASE), and if I can keep up with it. We'll see.

No more puking today (at least not yet), but tons of work to do, so...

Canned

2009-04-15T04:54:00.002-04:00

Apparently for some reason my blog has been tagged as spam and is in danger of being shut down. Blogger's supposed to review it and (hopefully) clear it, but in case it disappears that's what happened.

I really hope it doesn't get canned. I'm nearing my 1000th post, and this has been a cathartic online home for me for several years now. So cross your fingers for me!

Buzzed on Monster and Full Throttle

2009-04-15T03:27:00.003-04:00

I have been burning the candle at both ends for the past several days and still will be for a while. Right now I am on my third or fourth wind (who knows, I lost track) thanks to Monster and Full Throttle energy drinks as well as some chocolate and iced tea. Yeah, I know, not a great combination and terrible on my "diet", especially considering I've eaten pizza three times in the past week!

I am working solely on the Haven catalog, which has proved to be a lot more time consuming than I anticipated. I wish I had been able to start it sooner, but I have been completely swamped for the past month or so and will be at least through April, maybe through May if a certain project comes along. Good problems, yes, but I'm really reconsidering my low rate at this point...

Anyhoo, I have to finish the catalog this week as the 15th was actually the deadline, which I'll narrowly miss.

I also recorded a podcast tonight, which took an hour too long thanks to technical problems with Skype. And I still have to edit and post that puppy before Friday! I did go ahead and record the opening and closing already, so all I have to do is add the music, edit the main conversation (which is in, I believe, at least five different files - fun), and then put it all together. Yeah, this is a busy week.

Not to mention I was supposed to drive up to Chicago Thursday for the C2E2 Launch Party (the new Reed comic convention coming to Chicago next year) with my buddy Chuck "Crazz" Kennedy who lives in or near Chicago. He had a plus one on his RSVP and asked me, and I really want to go. But as things are looking right now I'm not gonna make it. One, I don't know if I really have the time to be spending Thursday and Friday on the road. Two, I don't have a reliable enough car to make a trek of 12 hours or so, and Three, it would take just about every cent I have right now to rent a car and make that trek. So as much as I would LOVE to go, I just don't see it happening sadly. Such is life.

This weekend I also have to have Corrective Measures #10 lettered, and #11-12 soon after. Next week I have to finish up the first issue of the current Image project I'm lettering. I have a couple of jobs that are about half finished I need to catch up on. And all the while I've still got Haven submissions coming in and stuff to post on Comic Related! Busy, busy, busy.

Somehow I need to come up with my half of the money for the convention in Chicago in August as well... pretty soon too. And I have to save up for a hotel and spending money there also. And I'll finally get to meet Cary Kelley in person after all these years as he'll be there.

As a matter of fact, this year is potentially very busy for me. I've already been up to Florence a few times, and to Gem City recently. Next month I'm doing Free Comic Book Day in Florence, then in June I may tag along with Chuck Moore to Heroes Con in NC. July, I think, is the off month, but my mom and brother have a birthday that month, so...

August is Chicago, then September is Pop Culture Con in KY near Cincinnati. October is Mid-Ohio-Con, and then November and December are the holidays.

Man, I better start making more money!!! I still have to print books, pay for hotels and tables, etc., etc. All I can hope for is that the cons are successful and I either get some work out of them, or sell a lot of books. Haven't done too great at the too regional shows I've done thus far, but then they are smaller shows, so we'll see. We also have yet to have a fully finished, 22 page story to sell. It's either been the 12 page #0 or the 12 page #1 preview. Hopefully the full issue #1 will sell better than those have.

Plus, the Image book I'm lettering comes out in July, so maybe I'll have some of those to sell in August, I don't know. The last Image book I lettered hasn't sold well for me yet. I put them out at the con, and I've had them up on eBay and have only sold one copy so far (at the con).

But that's what's up. I'm doing ok, just been really busy. I have so much on my plate, and yet monetarily it never feels like enough. I think I need to take a lesson from a guy I met at Gem City and write a 145 page novel, distribute it in the book market and sell 4,000 copies for $13 apiece. That would be a good start! Yeah, I'm really considering that...

Now if you'll excuse me, before I get back to work, I think I have to throw up...

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T07:42:00.002-04:00

If you celebrate this special holiday, have a blessed day of remembrance and fun. If not, enjoy the long weekend and do something special anyway.

For me, Easter is a very special day with a lot of great memories and of course the original purpose for the holiday, which I am so thankful for.

So may God bless you all, regardless of your beliefs.

HAPPY EASTER!

Zone 4 Podcast Episode 2b

2009-04-11T19:52:00.002-04:00

The second part of this week's long podcast is up! In this one Chuck and I do some reviews. Check it out by clicking the title of this post!

And just an FYI for all you out there, we are taking sponsors for the podcast. Check out the details here: www.comicrelated.com/ad.php

New eBay Sales

2009-04-11T13:17:00.001-04:00

Also forgot to mention that I have some things up on eBay for sale right now (click the title of this post for the list). It was to raise some money for a trip this week, but now I need it for more important things. So if you see anything you like please consider buying it. Thanks!

Spy6teen

2009-04-10T16:55:00.001-04:00

By the way, I forgot to mention I think that a project I'm lettering called Spy6teen is in this month's Zuda competition. Please go vote for it! Click the title of this post to check it out!

Zone 4 Podcast Episode 2

2009-04-10T16:54:00.001-04:00

The second episode of our weekly podcast is now live! It's a two-parter this week, the second part coming tomorrow. Click the title of this post to give part 1 a listen!

Lots Going On

2009-04-09T15:10:00.002-04:00

So Gem City was fun, we sold some books, and if you head over to the Wannabez blog you can see a bunch of WBZ related photos from the event. Ignore me in all pictures - I'm currently attempting to lose some weight and I hate those pics of me!

Scott and I had a good time Monday as well. Got to hang out, play Star Wars Stratego (first Stratego game I ever played, and I won!), hit a comic shop and hopefully sold them on taking some Wannabez copies, and had dinner before heading home.

This week I've been catching up on the Haven catalog and some lettering, and I'm still buried deep in it. It's scheduled to go off to the printer Wednesday, so I'm going full steam ahead to get it done.

Tonight I'm heading over to Chuck Moore's so he can show me some pointers on editing podcasts so I don't spend six hours doing that again! Hopefully what he shows me will streamline my archaic approach to it. The next episode is supposed to go live tomorrow so we'll see how this all goes.

Chuck doesn't know this yet, but he may make it on this week's episode! :D We'll see what happens when we get together tonight.

Speaking of the Zone 4 podcast, we are taking sponsors for each episode. Check out www.comicrelated.com/ad.php for rates and contact/payment info!

Next Thursday there is a slim chance I'll be in Chicago for a night, maybe two. We'll see how things pan out over the next few days and I'll keep you posted. Why would I be in Chicago? I'll tell you about that later.

First weekend of May I'll be attending my first ever Free Comic Book Day at Comics2Games in Florence.

Then in June there's a possibility I might tag along with Chuck and John to Heroes to represent Comic Related. Again, we'll see how that goes.

Then of course there's all the lettering I'm doing. Like I said, lots going on.

Gem City Aftermath

2009-04-06T09:05:00.000-04:00

Right now I'm chilling at Scott's house in Amelia, OH while he's sleeping the morning away and his wife is getting ready for work. Last night we were looking at pictures from the con and playing Lego Star Wars on the PS2. Fun times.

Yesterday the show went ok for us. We sold about 8 or so copies of the issue #1 preview, about 3-4 copies of the #0 issue of Wannabez, and I sold a copy of Zombie Cop. Scott did sketches on the back of all the WBZ #1 preview issues that sold, which will go up on the WBZ blog soon. He also did several sketch cards and sold some of his art. So while I still probably spent more than I made, it was a good show. We had a crowd all day long, did a couple of interviews (we were interviewed by Underground Video and Comic Related), got to hang out with some friends, and afterwards several of us went out to eat. So it was good.

I may have landed a lettering gig on a small project with an industry pro, so we'll see how that goes. He was a really cool and friendly guy and I hope it works out as I'd love to work with him.

Scott and I will be hanging out today, then sometime tonight I'll make it home where I will relax the night away before hitting work hard tomorrow and throughout the month. Tons of stuff yet to do, and I see many sleepless nights ahead of me in my immediate future.

Next show is Free Comic Book Day when I'll be back up at Comics 2 Games. After that I may crash with Chuck and hit Heroes as part of team Comic Related, we'll see. Chicago looks like the next show Scott and I will do together. Hopefully we'll have the full version of issue 1 by then!

Long Weekend

2009-04-04T09:29:00.002-04:00

I'm heading out the door for a weekend full of fun. First up, the Lexington Comic Show in just a few minutes. Then it's off to Florence to Comics2Games for the Sketch Card Event for Cancer.

Tomorrow I'll be heading up to Dayton, OH for Gem City Con trying to sell copies of Wannabez #0 and a Convention Special Preview of #1.

Monday, Scott and I will be hanging out in Cinci, then I'll be home to rest up before returning to work Tuesday.

So if you can't reach me, that's why. I am taking the laptop, but I don't know if I'll have internet access or not. We'll see.

If you haven't caught it yet, the first Zone 4 podcast is now live on Comic Related featuring the conversations of myself, Jason, Cary and Chuck. So check it out (click the title of this post)!

Well, I'm off!

Journey of a Wannabe - The Challenge is Set

2009-04-03T11:50:00.003-04:00

New column is live and on the site! Click the title to read it.

This week I talk about the challenge being set to graduate high school two years early surrounded with tragedy and hope at the same time. This proved a distraction for artistic endeavors, but would set a path for me that effectively changed me forever.

Comics For Cures

2009-03-30T07:41:00.002-04:00

The sketch cards for the Comics for Cures event up for auction on eBay now. You can find the four I did here. The proceeds go to the American Cancer Society, so please bid for this special cause.

If not on my cards bid on some of the others. You can find them all here.

Click the title of this post to read more about the event.

This Saturday, April 4th, Comics 2 Games in Florence, KY will be having an event in the store where all the cards will be on display. Last year they had a huge turnout and raised a lot of money for the ACS. This year we all hope it's even bigger and better!

Again, this is for a good cause, so please bid. Cancer has taken several family members from me, including my Nana, whom I was very close to. I fully support what this event is doing, and even though my cards aren't nearly as good as many others up for auction, they still go towards finding a cure for this tragic disease.

About my cards, I chose to do the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in honor of their 25th anniversary as I mentioned in a previous post. The TMNT were a big part of my childhood, so it was only fitting. Hopefully somebody will get some kind of enjoyment out of them at the same time helping out a great cause.

Superman Retires

2009-03-24T13:26:00.001-04:00

Straight from Rocky 3, Mr. T challenges Superman in this nice piece of editing genius:

TMNT Sketch Cards

2009-03-23T11:43:00.002-04:00

You may or may not know that Comics2Games in Florence, KY is hosting Comics for Cures, a sketch card event where all the cards are auctioned on eBay and the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. Well, I am participating, limited though my art skills may be.

Today is the deadline, so it's too late to join in, but the event will take place at the store April 4th and I'll be there. Click the title of this post to find more info about it.

For mine I decided to do the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles since this year marks the 25th anniversary of the "heroes in a half-shell", and because I was a HUGE fan of the Turtles back in the day. Plus some people over at Comic Related liked my rendition of a Turtle before.

So, I scanned them in today and you can find them in my forums here:

http://www.comicrelated.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4266

They're not as polished as I would have liked, as I state in that thread. And I wanted to do something much more artistic with the "25 Years", but time constraints forced me to merely scribble it on. In hindsight I probably should have just left it off, but oh well, them's the breaks.

Anyway, I hope you like.

Oh, and thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes.

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-03-22T01:38:00.004-04:00

So the birthday was pretty good. I practically slept most of the day, which was certainly a nice change of pace. I also watched a movie, watched some wrestling, and just chilled.

I don't know if you guys know what an ice cream cake roll is, but that's what I had. I don't get those very often and it had been years since I had one, so it was a nice change as well. My aunt used to make me a cheesecake, but hasn't for a few years now.

I didn't get much, nor did I expect much. I got some gangsta Popeye pajamas and a box of girl scout cookies (more Caramel Delights!), which was just fine with me. I also had pizza again because, hey, it's my birthday and I wanted to enjoy it! And since I couldn't afford to go to Outback Steakhouse (love their blooming onion and bbq chicken!) a green pepper, red pepper, onion and black olive pizza was the next best thing!

So now I'm just winding down preparing myself for tomorrow when things go somewhat back to normal. I'll probably still find some time to relax, but there will be work done as well. I have some APA and Haven stuff I need to do and some lettering (Red #1 and Elite #2) I need to work on.

For tonight, until I'm tired again I'm just gonna watch TV, maybe read a book, or even play a video game, which I've yet to do. I guess I'll see where the night takes me.

Today's the Day

2009-03-21T06:14:00.002-04:00

Yep, today is my birthday. Today I'm 32 years old. No milestone or anything, just another day, another year. Send gifts via Paypal...

Just Kidding.

Not really though.

Anyway, today I'm just gonna chill and take it easy. I might watch a movie or two, maybe even play a video game, something I haven't done in quite some time. Or I may just sleep, who knows? I'm just gonna take one day to be a lazy bum and try to enjoy myself.

Last night I headed over to Chuck Moore's house for a night of fun and business. We started off with a tour of the 10 acre property seeing the horses and Chuck's huge comic collection from his former retailing days. A whole wall in the garage of short boxes! Then we started talking business a little bit.

We talked about a podcasting idea myself and a few friends had and are planning to start up soon. Chuck gave me some pointers and explained logistics to me and thought what we had planned was really cool. So I've just got to get a few things in order and get together with the guys and get things rolling!

We then talked a bit about ComicRelated.com and I got access to post on the main site, so that will be cool. I love the site and post all the time on the forums, so this is just another opportunity to contribute to my online home away from home.

After that we ordered pizza and watched Dollhouse. Then we shared some humorous stories between the three of us in between watching the cats chase a laser pointer all over the place.

Chuck tells me the cats usually don't come out when company's there, but last night all four were out and about and the three house cats were very interested in me it seems. Luckily I had taken a Zyrtec before I headed over there or I would have been miserable, but I was fine.

When it was all said and done I headed home to catch the replay of the Battlestar Galactica series finale. It was pretty good and I'm pleased and intrigued by the mysterious ending to the wonderful series I will now miss.

I then crashed and got a few hours of sleep before waking up in time to post this little message. Now I think I'm gonna go back to bed for a while. So if you need me, well, you'll just have to wait! Happy Birthday to me! :D

Journey of a Wannabe - Death Befalls Us

2009-03-19T11:42:00.002-04:00

My latest column is up on the site. Check it out by clicking the title of this post.

This time I get real personal and talk about some serious stuff that was going on in my life at age 15, and how that stifled my creativity for a while.

My Eating Habits

2009-03-19T08:35:00.003-04:00

For those who expressed concern over my eating habits mentioned in my last post, I should clarify a few things.

The Subway subs I've been eating have either been turkey or veggie, mostly veggie, containing lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, black olives and provolone cheese with mustard. Occasionally I'll add green peppers when I'm feeling brave, but not very often.

I've also been eating a lot of fresh fruit, mainly strawberries, grapes, peaches and pears.

I drink plenty of water and gatorade, though sweet iced tea is still my vice.

When I snack it's typically graham crackers or pretzels, though recently I did purchase some girl scout cookies, which are nearly gone now.

The soup I mentioned was vegetable soup.

As most of you know, I hardly eat any meat. I eat turkey very rarely and I eat chicken somewhat regularly, at least a few times a week. I prefer it baked or boiled, or grilled on the Foreman grill, but sometimes I do eat it fried.

I do have an affinity for cereal as well. Generally that consists of some form of Chex or Honey Nut Cheerios, though recently I've gotten on a Golden Grahams kick.

I also eat yogurt somewhat often, typically Yoplait. I prefer the Thick & Creamy kind, but sometimes get the Light as well.

So, to calm any concerns for my eating habits, know that by and large I do eat pretty healthy. I do slip up and eat some sweet confection occasionally, or some fast food item that I quickly regret. I can't do a solid square three meals a day, I would be stuffed all the time if I did that to be honest. I've never been a breakfast person and usually just eat a small bite of something if anything for breakfast. I'll snack on the aforementioned items a few hours after awaking and then sometimes I'll eat a light lunch (a quick sandwich or a bowl of cereal, something like that). Then I'll snack a bit in the afternoon and eat something like a sub or soup or chicken or pasta for dinner.

So no worries, folks. Yesterday was an exception, and one I don't intend to repeat for quite some time.

The Load Has Lightened

2009-03-18T23:09:00.002-04:00

Well, only slightly, but I did get quite a bit done today thankfully. I managed to turn in a good number of pages on three lettering projects today and do a little bit of Haven work, not to mention send my column in for the week. So I'd say it was a successful day today.

I'll be starting again early in the morning working on other lettering projects and maybe some pre-press stuff for APA as well. I also have another project I need to work on badly by the weekend.

During the weekend I'm hoping to be caught up enough to resume work on my website, but we'll see.

It looks like Chuck and I are still on for Friday night to talk podcasting, Comic Related and whatever else strikes us. It'll be the first time I've been to his house despite knowing each other for over a year and living ten minutes apart. Should be fun.

Lost tonight was awesome. The whole time travel bit had me questioning things, but the ending of tonight's episode was so wicked I had to forgive any problems I had with things. I can't wait to see what comes of that. Next week's episode looks to be intense.

Barack Obama is following me on Twitter, and I'm pretty sure it's the real one. How insane is that? I think it's due to this service I signed up with where users are automatically added to your following and followers when you sign up. I don't know, could be a fake, but still, it was kind of wild to get that email notification.

I have GOT to get started on my sketch cards for the Comics 4 Cures event! The deadline was extended until, I believe, next Monday the 23rd, but I'm definitely cutting it close here!

This Saturday is my 32nd birthday. Yeah, I can't believe it either. It feels like yesterday I was complaining on this blog about turning 30. My, how the time flies. The scary thing is my brother's dad was my age when he passed away. It's very surreal.

Right now I'm trying to wind down so I can get a little rest before rising up to work again. I didn't get much sleep at all last night, but the two nights prior I slept at least 6 hours each, which is good for me. So I'm not feeling really fatigued or anything right now. And I'm not feeling too bad physically either. I'm stuffed because I ate a bit too much today (got up at 7:30, ate soup around 1, ate a sub from Subway between 5 and 6 and ate a sub from Dominos around 10:30. I did have a few Thin Mints cookies in between, but that's all.). I'm hoping the overeating doesn't affect my stomach tonight. I was just really hungry today. I had basically been eating one meal a day for the past week eating a Subway sub for an afternoon dinner and eating pretzel sticks and graham crackers as occasional snacks throughout the day. I also hadn't been drinking pop too much, maybe one every three days, instead opting for Gatorade or water. Sadly, I have not lost one single pound. Luckily I've not gained any, but still.

I guess that's what I get for working at a computer all day long and relaxing by reading or watching TV, or blogging on the computer. Yep, I'm turning into a stereotype. Gotta do something about that!

The Pressure's On

2009-03-17T14:46:00.004-04:00

Man, it seems like forever since I posted, and it actually has been several days. I've just been so busy lately and I can't seem to find time to keep up with this at the moment. But never fear, all my faithful readers, I haven't forgotten about you, and I'll still be posting as often as I can.

I've slowly been picking the pace back up on lettering projects, though I've still got plenty to do. In fact, that's what I'm doing right now.

Truth is, the Haven work just kind of consumed the better part of the past couple of weeks or so. I'm now handling just about the entire catalog, meaning I'm gathering the solicitations and cover art, plugging them into the templates I created, and getting them ready to be proofed then printed. We're far from there yet, but that's what I've been doing.

Plus I'm still handling all the submissions and fielding any questions about those, not to mention prepping them for the online cart. And if that wasn't enough, Lance Stahlberg recently found out he has a torn rotator cuff and is in severe pain, so now I'm fielding his emails as well for the time being.

So suffice it to say, Haven has been keeping me very busy.

Physically, it's been a rough week. I've had one or two gall bladder attacks and a bit of a cold or allergies possibly, can't tell at this point. I've also been very fatigued and even slept until lunchtime today. But I'm ok and not as bad as I've been. I'm certainly not bed-ridden or too bad to do work or what not. Just feeling a bit sluggish and at times frustrated and cranky, but it'll pass.

If you haven't been following the Wannabez blog, it looks like a full issue 1 is out of the question by Gem City Con in two weeks. One reason is finances, the other reason is time. I'm not sure what Scott's going to have time to finish, and even if he finished the entire issue and I could afford the grayscales I doubt Ross would have time to finish them. So, what we'll probably do is a black & white ashcan of whatever pages we get done so we can have something new to peddle at the con. I'm thinking a smaller size, not quite full standard comic size, but we'll see how it goes. At whatever the next con we do is we plan on having that full issue.

For those who don't follow me on Twitter, I checked out the new series "Kings" Sunday night. I didn't know much about the series before watching it, so I had no idea it was more or less a modern telling of the King David story. It was pretty cool watching certain similar events unfold that paralleled that classic tale. I'm going to stick with it as now I'm pretty intrigued by it. It's a very creative endeavor.

That meeting with Chuck I mentioned has been pushed to this Friday for now, so I'm looking forward to it. Chuck has been real busy with work and stuff for Comic Related and Comics XP, so it's totally understandable him having to push it back. I know whenever we meet it'll be a good time and I'll learn a lot about podcasting.

Well, I've got too much work to do to keep rambling on, and since I've run out of interesting things to talk about at the moment, it's back to work I go.

Where Does the Time Go?

2009-03-12T15:37:00.002-04:00

Man, things have been busy lately. I've got a lot of work presently and for about a day or so I was just completely overwhelmed. Today I dug myself out of enough of it to not feel overwhelmed, but still be pretty busy. We'll see how much more I can get out of the way before the day's end.

Tomorrow is the deadline for Haven solicitation materials for the catalog, so it will probably be a busy day as those come rolling in under the wire. I have been buried in Haven related work since late last week and today is the first day I've not (yet) worked on Haven stuff since. If you haven't checked out Haven or are curious about the new catalog, head over here to check out the new logo/name and samples of the interior pages.

I did sneak out to see Watchmen the other day. It was a pretty good movie. It was a lot more graphic than I was expecting, but it was still a good movie. Not as good as Dark Knight, but good.

Tonight I was supposed to go over to Chuck Moore's house to talk about podcasting and some other things. Sadly, Chuck came down with something and had to leave work to hit the bed, so we have to reschedule.

Why would I be talking with Chuck about podcasting? Well, because myself, Jason Berek-Lewis, Cary Kelley and Chuck Kennedy will be doing a new podcast very soon. We haven't definitively decided on how often or when it will launch, but we're all pretty excited about it. The four of us at times live in four different time zones, so it should be interesting trying to get us all together, especially Jason who lives Down Under. But it will be fun. This is something the four of us (who have become very good friends over the years) have talked about for a while now, and now we can make it happen and have a place to publish it thanks to the generosity of Comic Related, which will be its home.

We're supposed to be getting a rain and snow mix tonight. Fun. Just a few days ago it was in the 70s. This morning it was in the 20s. As they say in Kentucky, if you don't like the weather here, wait five minutes. I so wish I lived in a consistent climate.

And on that note, I've got more work to do...

Comics2Games Grand Opening Recap

2009-03-09T07:59:00.002-04:00

By the way, had a great time at the Comics2Games Grand Opening Saturday. I wasn't really myself the whole day for some reason (maybe it was the onset of this cold (see previous post) and I just didn't realize it at the time), but I still had a good time even if I didn't show it much.

You can find some pics of the event by clicking the title of this post. You'll even see a couple shots of my gorgeous, if a little hefty these days, mug in there. (Man I've gotta lose weight! According to a weight calculator, for my height, age and frame I'm about 40 pounds overweight!).

And if you're interested in seeing where C2G came from, you can see images of the old store and the new store here.

We got to partake of a lemon Watchmen cake (very tasty) and chat it up about all things comics, including my upcoming comic strip "It's All Related" coming next month! Wannabez was on display, and I met another Fowler! First time I've ever met anyone not related with my last name (who knows, maybe he was related?). So all in all a good time was had by all, me included.

Not Feeling Great Today

2009-03-09T07:53:00.002-04:00

I'm not feeling so well today, folks. Feeling sick to my stomach and kind of nauseous and light-headed. I've also got a headache and a slight earache (the earache was worse yesterday, but it still hurts when I swallow).

Not sure if it's the change in weather recently or just a bug or what, but it's affecting me a lot this morning. Hopefully it will pass as I've got a lot to do.

I fell a little behind the latter end of last week and haven't quite caught up yet. Haven catalog stuff kind of took precedence with a tight deadline for some things, and some of the lettering took the hit. So today I'll be playing catch-up as best I can, and continue throughout the week.

That said, I'm not terribly behind schedule, just a couple of days off, and most of it's self-imposed scheduling, so it's not too bad. I plan to be back on track by the end of the week. That's the plan anyway.

Today I hope to catch a flick if I'm at a stopping point and feel well enough to. We'll see. Haven't been to the theater since... wow, probably Dark Knight in fact. Everything else I saw on DVD or TV.

Anyway, that's what's up.

Zombie Cop On eBay

2009-03-09T07:51:00.002-04:00

Please check it out - I've got copies of Zombie Cop straight from the printer, never read, up on eBay right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320348099591

Comics2Games Grand Opening

2009-03-07T11:10:00.002-05:00

I know I haven't been around too much lately and I apologize. It's just been very busy with lettering and Haven work lately I haven't had much time to blog. I've made a few Twitter posts because they're short, but anything more than that just requires too much time.

Anyway, in about 45 minutes or so Chuck and Katie will be picking me up to head up to Florence for the Comics2Games Grand (re)Opening. The new store has been open for a few weeks now, but this is the official party to start it off right. And I'm told pictures will be taken, and interviews will be given, and discussions will be had. Should be a lot of fun.

The festivities don't start until 6pm, but we're leaving at noon, which means we'll get there around 1:30. Friends will flow in throughout the afternoon so there will be plenty to do and talk about. Plus it's a cool place just to hang out.

So that's where I'll be today/tonight. Tomorrow I'm gonna try to go see Watchmen, and then I'll be chained back at the desk to put out some more work. Busy, busy, busy, but never to busy for new projects, so be sure to hit me up!

Journey of a Wannabe - Birth of the Sketch Pad Comics

2009-03-06T15:11:00.001-05:00

As always, click the title to reach the latest column. This time, see some of my early superhero and comic drawing!

'Tis a Better Day

2009-02-27T05:28:00.002-05:00

So Wednesday I was having a tough time with things. In fact, after the post I made I kind of had a breakdown of some kind. I won't say it was a nervous breakdown, but I was just at the point where I couldn't take it anymore.

Without going into things, let's just say there was bad news on top of more bad news, then the work was piling on, which blew my schedule out the water. And to top it off, there was some fighting on the home front that got really personal. And after I got off the computer around 1 or 2pm I just blew up.

With nothing else to do, I went for a drive to clear my head, prayed a little on the way, and then came home and took a long nap. Once I awoke I was feeling much better, and that feeling continued immensely through the day Thursday.

Today I am great, if not a little stressed because now I'm behind again, but it's not that bad and I'm not sweating it as much. I think I had just been staring at this computer for too long and just had it. With all the other stuff amassing on top of it that was just the last straw.

Luckily I've had the house all to myself for about 16 hours now and things are rolling along smoothly. I got to relax a bit and get some work done, and goof off some, and now I'm ready to hit the ground running and knock some of this stuff out.

We all have these kinds of weeks where everything just piles up and we need a release, and that's all this was. So no worries, folks, it's all good.

Now this next part doesn't really apply to most of you, but I wanted to address an anonymous comment left on my last post. I don't know who made it, but I know it was one of a handful of people from my not so distant past, and they mean well and were trying to help. I think I was short with my reply to them, so I wanted to take this opportunity to address them properly. If this is not you feel free to not read any further if you like.

So, to address your comment, whoever you are, I appreciate the concern, really I do. And advice to let God lead you is always good advice in my opinion, so it is taken as a given. However, I want to assure you that I have not forgotten or forsaken for one second the calling on my life or my love for God. Things have changed in my life, yes, but that has not. I love God, I always have, and I know what my path is. So please don't fret about me in that sense. It's all good.

And with that, I'm off to another day of doing the work I love to do and that is better than any office job I've ever had or would ever want to have.

Will This Week Ever End?

2009-02-25T12:30:00.002-05:00

I can't even express to you how badly this week is going for me. It's just one thing right after another, and I'm stressed to the limit about it all.

To sum it up, first I find out I didn't do so great a job on something I thought I had done a great job on. That was disheartening and made me feel lousy.

Then some family drama cropped up and has been ongoing for the past couple of days, and it's just really got me mad, hurt and stressed.

To add to the flame, I've not been able to be on my computer as often as I need to to keep up with my schedule. And that's only worsened by the fact that a client needs a lot of work a lot sooner than I anticipated, and I'm expecting another project to hit today that has to be given priority.

Then there are a whole bunch of little things that are gnawing at me, and so much stuff I just can't get to... it's just not a great week.

I'll survive it, and next week a lot of this drama and so forth should be cleared out, but I can see that the remainder of this week is going to be trying to say the least.

First Tease

2009-02-24T11:50:00.000-05:00

I posted the first teaser image for my new website design on the forums. Click the title of this post to check it out!

Changes Afoot

2009-02-23T08:24:00.002-05:00

I'm finally doing it. Slowly but surely, I'm doing it. And I started last night and more this morning. It will be a long, slow process in my spare time, but I'm doing it.

What, you ask? Redesigning my websites is what. I have been wanting to do this for months now and it's high time I did something about it. I can't wait until I have money to pay someone to do it, and I can't let them go as is because I'm bored with them. More than that, I'm not happy with them.

Well, let me clarify that last statement. I'm not happy with certain things about them, namely functionality, secondarily the dated layouts and styles. It's time for something new and fresh and dynamic.

I tried to get the ball rolling yesterday since it was my "day off" that I had given myself. But one thing led to another and I just couldn't get into it. Early this morning, however, I was able to make somewhat of a breakthrough and I'm really happy and excited with where it's heading.

I'm not ready to share just yet, but trust me you'll love where this is all going.

And it won't just be this site I'm redesigning. I'll also be redesigning the Gonzogoose site and the Wannabez site. The latter more just taking the basic look of it and applying that to a format that is more functional behind the scenes, but still it's a change.

And with all these changes this blog may very well change also. If what I'm going to try to do works out I may end this blog and start fresh on the homepage of the new site like my friend Cary did. We'll see how that goes though before I announce anything official.

We're on the brink of entering a new universe, folks!

As for other things, work is going well. As of right now I'm dead on schedule, so I'm pleased about that. Up until Saturday I was about a half day behind, but I'm caught up now and didn't even really have to do anything yesterday. Hopefully the rest of this week will continue to flow on schedule and all will be well. Especially since I'm about to be adding another freelance job to the mix. More on that later.

Keep an eye out for updates on the changes. As things progress I'll be updating this thread in my forums with pictures and stuff. I'm really trying to make use of my forums, so please check them out. I've already put a lot of stuff in there you won't find here or anywhere else.

Back to the Monday grind, folks. Wish me luck!

How It's Going

2009-02-20T19:53:00.003-05:00

So far so good on the new schedule. A couple of people asked for things quicker, but it's all good. I'm currently about a half or fourth of a day behind, but I should totally be back on schedule by tomorrow night.

Chuck and Katie stopped by to drop something off today. It was great chatting with them for a minute, even if it was a brief visit. They'd had a long day and it was cold outside, so they headed on home.

I'm caught up on Haven work at the moment. I'm waiting for a couple of people to send me info and I'll be pretty much done for the week save a special little project I'm doing as I have time.

I've got to finish the Suicide Note pages tonight (they're about half done at this point), but I'm gonna wait until after Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse, and of course BSG (yep, a 3 hour block of TV for me tonight), before picking it back up.

You'll notice in my Tweeter update in the sidebar that I've got dinner about done and I'm ready to relax a bit.

I was up all night last night working since I fell behind, and got the En Garde pages off first thing this morning. Then I took a nap for about 5 hours and hit everything again. Now I'm ready to eat and watch some TV.

Regrouped... Somewhat

2009-02-18T10:43:00.002-05:00

Well, I spent most of the day in bed yesterday and wound up doing very little. I was able to wrap my mind around things, though, and formulate a plan this morning on how to better tackle everything.

The schedule I've devised will only work for the next couple of weeks, though, as Haven work will pick up in March, and I have some more lettering jobs coming in around then also. So I'll really have to further define my scheduling by the hour when that time comes.

For now, though, I'm sticking with loose general dates of completion of groups of pages per project. Theoretically I've allowed myself enough time to do this all. I've only been able to be on the computer in a work capacity about 6-8 hours a day tops for a while now (long story) and that's still the case currently. That should change soon where I can devote more time to work, but for now it has to do.

This schedule I'm about to post may seem light, but note that it revolves around Haven work, updates for APA and Comic Related, writing, and life in general. And it still gets clients their projects by the end of the first week of March, or a good portion of them at least, so it works.

So here is the tentative schedule for work I will attempt to complete between now and March 5th.

Lettering
En Garde! (pages 9-16) February 19, 2009
Academy of Heroes #3 (pages 15-16) February 19, 2009
Suicide Note (pages 1-10) February 20, 2009
Tainted (pages 71-80) February 21, 2009
True West (balloon templates) February 23, 2009
Academy of Heroes #4 (pages 1-11) February 23, 2009
Ellium #4 (pages 1-10) February 24, 2009
Elite #2 (pages 1-7) February 25, 2009
Wolalina (Intro - pages 1-5) February 25, 2009
Red #1 (pages 1-5) February 26, 2009
Tainted (pages 81-90) February 26, 2009
Venger #2 (pages 1-7) February 27, 2009
Suicide Note (pages 11-20) February 27, 2009
Academy of Heroes #4 (pages 12-22) February 28, 2009
Ellium #4 (pages 11-20) March 1, 2009
Elite #2 (pages 8-14) March 2, 2009
Wolalina (The Hidden Ronin - pages 1-5) March 3, 2009
Red #1 (pages 6-10) March 3, 2009
Tainted (pages 91-101) March 3, 2009
Venger #2 (pages 8-15) March 4, 2009
Suicide Note (pages 21-30) March 5, 2009

Logos
Pinpoint February 20, 2009
Imaginarium February 24, 2009
Jack the Rabbit February 28, 2009

If any of these dates don't work for you (the clients) please let me know and we'll see what we can work out to shuffle things around.

Thanks to everyone for being patient with me. As you can see, I'm working on a lot of projects right now with more on the way!

Taking a Day

2009-02-17T08:53:00.002-05:00

I am beside myself today. I had several things hit me at once yesterday, and not feeling well on top of it just made matters that much worse.

That said, today I am taking a day to regroup, refocus and reflect on all the stuff I need to get done so I can crack down on it all for the remainder of the week.

There are one or two specific things I'll be working on today, but aside from that I'm taking a breather. I didn't sleep at all last night, I'm still not feeling well, and things have been tense on the homefront. So I need to step away for a minute and just release some of the stress.

A day isn't really enough time to do so, but it'll have to do. Once I clear the queue again I'm making a point to take a longer break like a week if I can afford it. But that's a ways off right now.

So, I won't be on AIM today and I probably won't respond to emails right away. I'm not taking calls either, so don't bother unless it's an emergency.

Thanks for understanding.

Journey of a Wannabe - Opening the Door

2009-02-15T17:06:00.002-05:00

The latest column is now live! Click the title of this post to check it out!

Making a Dent!

2009-02-15T16:15:00.003-05:00

Ok, so this morning I FINALLY wrote some strips for the upcoming Comic Related webcomic, five in fact. We want to get 10 in the can, so I'm halfway there on my part! Very exciting stuff.

The working title is "It's All Related" as it will be based around the fictional Comic Related offices. We've been bouncing back and forth tons of ideas, and these first five kind of follow chronologically some events that have taken place with a spin on them. Should be fun, I hope you enjoy it.

It will be a weekly strip, though I'm not sure what day it will be updated yet, and I'm not certain what the official launch day is. I know what we're shooting for, but I don't want to speak out of turn. Regardless, it will be soon.

I also lettered a page of Black Paw this afternoon, something I hadn't been able to get to for a while. It's the only page of it I had, but I had so much other work in front of it (still do) that I couldn't get to it. Today, however, my time working on the computer is a bit limited, so I thought I'd try to knock out some small stuff instead of trying to tackle bigger projects today. That's what tomorrow's for, right? Right?

Now I'm working on a Pinpoint logo for Alfred Paige. I've done a couple of logos for him before for War's Chosen and Pinpoint/Blowtorch: Alien Passage.

I wasn't feeling well when I woke up this morning, and I'm still not feeling great, but it does feel good to get some of this stuff out of the way.

Chuck Moore, Tracy Duty and I have also been working out the APA forums on and off this weekend. They should be up in full capacity soon, hopefully by tomorrow, but we'll see.

I've only gotten one vote on what I posted about in the previous post, but that's cool. Yesterday was V-Day for most of you, and today's Sunday, so I'll forgive you. :) But please vote and help me decide what to draw!

Nothing more to report at the moment really, just wanted to let you all know I'm picking up steam!

Comics For Cures

2009-02-14T21:51:00.001-05:00

I've been debating on what to draw for the Comics for Cures sketch card event and the deadline is only two weeks away. So, in my forum I started a poll. You guys tell me what to draw. Check it out!

What's Up Tonight... Me!

2009-02-13T03:01:00.004-05:00

Can't sleep tonight. I'm restless. I've been up since a little before 6am and it's now a few minutes past 3am on Friday the 13th. Ooohh, I'm scared. Yeah.

So anyway, I've been listening to podcasts from NYCC, playing some online games (pool, sudoku, stuff like that) and watching a little bit of TV. Just not in the mood to work right now, but morning will be here soon enough and I'll be back at it.

I've found through listening to these podcasts that listening to other creators talk about their stuff feeds my own creativity. And I've learned that I've missed a LOT in Teen Titans! Haven't picked up that book for a LONG time now sadly. Probably not for 30 issues or so in fact.

Things have been slow progressing around here lately. The HOPE stories came back to me this week with new pages and color files to switch the letters to, and some corrections to be made. Also been working on the APA site, which is now live. And the forums are also live over at Comic Related, though there's nothing there yet. The site's pretty basic and to the point, but it's what the publisher wanted after several other designs, and it is clean and good and clear I think.

Then of course there's been Haven work, which I haven't done a lot with this week, but it looks to be picking back up.

I've been trying to get what pages of En Garde! done that I have, but that's been slow going as well.

And I just got a whole bunch of pages from three different projects the other day, so I've got plenty to do. But it's 3 in the morning and I'm just not up to it at the moment.

Ok, so let me share a moment of freak-outedness with you. When American Idol started this season I wasn't really into it. My interest has been waning over the past couple of years for a number of reasons, one no doubt being my age progressing past the age limit a few years ago. But more than that, it just became stale, and this year didn't look too promising at the beginning either.

However, I've found a favorite in Danny Gokey and think he could go all the way. But what I really discovered was my new crush in Casey Carlson, a very cute and chill young lady that just really caught my attention. While they didn't show her much throughout the whole process, I am still a fan and am looking forward to her singing next week.

Now here comes the freak out part. I think this girl is just cute as can be and am just really smitten with her. So I kind of let it slip to my mom and what does she say to me? "That's what I used to look like when I was younger." What? Oh-no, she didn't! Needless to say I was then scarred for life. And upon her pointing it out I have to admit that she does bare a resemblance. I've seen pictures of my mom in her early 20s and she was a thin, beautiful woman who nearly stumbled into a modeling career at one point, but didn't go for it. She's 55 now and she looks much younger than she is.

Still, despite the saying of guys wanting wives like their mothers, the prospect of being attracted to someone who so closely resembles my mother at a young age is just frightening. Has it lessened my crush on the girl? Not a chance. But it still grossed me out. :)

I'm having a hard time getting myself back into healthy eating habits and exercise. Every day I tell myself that today will be the day. Then every day I happen to find Crunch and Munch, donuts, Doritos, ice cream and various other naughty snacks that I can't seem to control my will power around. I don't like my current weight, which is what it was before I lost the weight early last year. I've gained it all back and am currently one pound shy of my heaviest weight ever. I want to lose weight, and I want to stop eating the junk, but working from home, sitting all the time, and all this stuff being at my fingertips is a little too much to resist. If I lived alone I just wouldn't buy the stuff and that would make it a little easier. But that's not the case, so ya know. I'll figure something out, though. I'm not going through summer carrying these extra 40 pounds.

Much is in the works, but I don't want to jump the gun on anything. So just stay tuned and maybe some of these things will pan out.

I can't decide now whether to just stay up or try to get a little sleep. I'll probably end up staying up. But rest assured, all you concerned folks, I have been getting more sleep the past few days. Last night I got about 6 hours, so don't worry too much. As long as I'm functioning and the fatigue isn't hurting me I'm fine. I appreciate the emails and posts here and on Twitter, but I'm good, guys, really. At least right now.

Tonight I have a TV scheduling conflict. Friday Night Lights comes on at 9, but the new Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly) show Dollhouse comes on tonight following Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and I really want to check it out. I didn't watch a lot of Buffy, none of Angel, and sadly I missed Firefly (though Serenity I loved), but I'm curious about this one. So I'll probably miss FNL and hope it pops up on Hulu or NBC.com or something.

Then of course there is BSG. Yep, I have no life but Sci-Fi TV on Friday nights right now. But it's all good.

And on that note, I'm running out of things to blab about, so I'm gonna stop before I just start rambling. What? I already am? Ok, I get the picture...

Surviving the Weather

2009-02-12T07:25:00.002-05:00

Well, we came out of the touch of bad weather somewhat unscathed. Our power went out three or four times through the night. The first time, as I mentioned before, I was in the tub, and the lights stayed off for about 30-45 minutes and came back on.

The second time was a flash for just a couple minutes.

Third time it was out for about another 30-45 minutes, and after that the winds calmed, the rain stopped, and we thought all was well.

About 10 after 8, right during American Idol, the winds kicked up again and with them went the power for about two hours causing me to miss AI and Lost.

But I'm thankful they didn't stay out longer than that. They came back on a little after 10pm and have been on since.

We almost lost two pieces of vinyl siding though, and may have (I haven't checked this morning). We kept hearing a banging on the back of the house during the outage, and upon inspection discovered a piece of siding flapping against the house trying to come off. It was too high up to reach so we didn't fool with it. Later in the night one on the side of the house started doing the same thing.

The last time we had really strong winds and tornado warnings like this two or three houses across the street lost several pieces of siding that they found littering the neighbors' yards the next morning.

Luckily today isn't trash day or I'm sure there would have been Herbies downed and trash scattered across the street. I was only outside in it for a couple of minutes, but the wind was so forceful and cold I can understand why the siding wanted to vacate the premises.

But anyway, we made it through and luckily in our area there were no tornadoes. I know others in other cities or even other states (like Oklahoma) weren't so fortunate, and my thoughts go out to them.

Right now the wind is still blowing heavily, but not as heavily. Weather or not we'll see anymore strong gusts I'm not sure, haven't checked the forecast for today. But as of right now I'm back at the computer doing my thing.

Oh, and my column has been sent in. Chuck, living near to me, also was without power for a couple of hours last night, so I'm sure he got behind on things as well. but I'm sure it will be up as soon as he has a chance to mess with it, which may or may not be before week's end, but it's all good considering how late I was in sending it off.

No Smallville or Supernatural tonight, so no shows to miss if the power happens to go off again. Wrestling's on, but it replays Saturday, so I'm not worried about that.

So that's that, I better work while I can, folks.

More Bad Weather

2009-02-11T15:46:00.000-05:00

Well, today we are having strong winds and tornado watches, and our power keeps going off. I was in the tub when the power went off for about 30 minutes or so and had to feel my way out as there were no windows in there. That was fun.

So I don't know how long we'll have power. If I'm not responding this is why. Don't really want to leave the computer on in this kind of storm too much anyway.

SO... Tired...

2009-02-09T14:00:00.002-05:00

This weekend has been a bear. I have been working around the clock trying to finish the APA website for launch today. It's close, but the store is still a work in progress at this stage. We had several missteps and stumblingblocks, but it's getting there.

I also had to letter a couple of pages last night in the middle of that for a pitch this morning. Luckily they were pretty simple pages, so it didn't take very long.

I had also committed myself to posting NYCC con Twitter posts in the CR forum through the weekend, and occasionally updating the CR MySpace page as well. These updates only took like 20 minutes at a time, but I had underestimated how much time I had to do them, so they put the crunch on a bit as well. I did them when I had to take a break from the coding and stuff that was making my eyes cross.

Today I'm supposed to have 5 more pages of Lightning Squirrel and I think 4 or 5 pages of En Garde complete and I just don't see how. I'm going to try, though. I'll probably be on this computer all night again, but I'm going to try to deliver.

I don't think Haven work is going to keep me nearly as busy this week, so after today I should be able to focus mainly on lettering for a bit. I've got stuff coming up and I've got to clear some of this out.

Right now I want to collapse for a few hours, but I can't just yet. I need to reach a certain point before I can stop then I'll try to grab a couple of hours before hitting it hard again.

Oh, how I wish I had been in NYC at the con having fun with the rest. Then again, had I gone, when I got back all of this would have been waiting to hit me in the face and it would have been doubly stressful. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't go!

Another Busy Day At the Office

2009-02-06T15:39:00.002-05:00

I've been hitting it hard since I woke up and I'm finally ALMOST caught up on all things Haven. Whew, it's been a busy week for Haven. Submissions, solicitations, newsletter, and various other things.

And now Lance is in New York for the con, as are a bunch of the Comic Related staff (check the link for live coverage), and poor little ol' me is stuck at home working. But it's all good.

In between working on Haven stuff I've been posting some Twitter comments from comic pros at NYCC in the Comic Related forums, and updating the CR MySpace page. Fun stuff.

Speaking of CR, I realize my column is really late, and it's my fault. As I mentioned before, I totally forgot about it last week, and this week Chuck was prepping for NYCC, so I didn't want to put anymore on him. It'll go up next week, and I may even do one the next week since it's been several weeks since the last update.

I've got a ton of lettering to catch up on this weekend, but I've also got to finish the APA site. Yeah, I know I said it was all but done, but with Haven I kind of got behind on the finishing touches. Basically I need to get the store working and then go back through everything and make sure it's all good. The deadline is Monday, so that's going to take a chunk of my weekend as well as the lettering.

I've been discovering some pretty neat books through Haven, and getting to read some of them as well. That's been fun.

Speaking of reading, it took me a week, but I finally made it through those five comics I bought last weekend. I'm a little lost since I missed the end of Secret Invasion, but it seems pretty fun so far.

Man, two things I said I was going to do this week I just haven't been able to get to, and I don't know if I will now or not. I was supposed to go through edits on Wannabez #2, and I was supposed to write some strips for the Comic Related strip. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

To give you an idea of how much Haven work I've done, I'm supposed to log about 40 hours a month. I've surpassed that in the first week this month! Actually it hasn't even been a full week yet. So yeah, it's been busy.

Ok, so tonight I've got Friday Night Lights and BSG. Yep, I'm gonna watch them as that will probably be all I get to watch all weekend. No movies this weekend I'm afraid.

Temperature seems to be warming up finally. It's 52 right now and the sun is bright. Nice.

Alright, I've stalled long enough. I better get back to it!

Yesterday Was Difficult

2009-02-05T09:45:00.002-05:00

For the past two days I've practically been buried in Haven submissions and solicitations work, not really getting much else done. Looks like more of the same today, but I've got to fit some lettering in as well. So that made things a bit rough yesterday, but that's not what I'm referring to in the title of this post.

Yesterday would have been my Papaw's birthday. As most of you know, he died last year and I missed his funeral and didn't see him for a while before. It was tough reliving all that over again.

Yesterday was also the day, one year ago, my former Pastor's son passed away. I honestly wouldn't have recalled the exact date except that they posted a remembrance of him in the obits section of the local newspaper yesterday, which I've linked to (the online version) of in the title of the post. Michael's life came to an abrupt and tragic end, and it still haunts me, and many others, to this day and most likely will for a long time to come.

So yesterday wasn't a joyous day. I tried to just remember the good times and get on with the day. Never an easy thing, but a necessary thing.

My heart, my thoughts and my prayers go out to my family and the Lee family.

Had a Good Weekend

2009-02-02T23:11:00.002-05:00

So this past Saturday I went to Florence to hang out with people at Comics 2 Games and to meet up with Scott about Wannabez.

The day started off bad, but got better. I was up late Friday night finishing up lettering on Elite #1 and so I overslept the next morning. I had intended on getting up at 8 so I could get some things together for the day. I had books to gather up as well as a list of things I needed. I wanted to bone up on Wannabez for my meeting with Scott, and put together some thoughts on the strip I'm doing for Comic Related to discuss with the Ringtail crew who are doing it with me.

Chuck was picking me up at 10, so that would've given me plenty of time. However, I didn't wake up until 9:40! So I jumped out of bed and immediately hopped in the shower and started getting dressed. I had my jeans on when the doorbell rang. So I grabbed a t-shirt and threw it on as I ran down the stairs to answer the door, my hair wet and a mess, barefoot and still a bit damp all over from the shower. Graciously, Chuck waited for me while I finished up.

Because of that rush I forgot my notes and didn't have time to grab everything, so I just grabbed some copies of Wannabez and a notebook and headed out.

It was a pleasant ride up there, though, as I got to meet Chuck's wife, Katie for the first time, and there never seems to be a shortage of things for me and Chuck to talk about, so it was good times. I felt for Chuck and Katie as they had been without power for four days and hadn't had showers. So they were going to drop me off at the store and head to a friend's house and shower.

So we got the store (Comics 2 Games in Florence, KY) around a quarter til 12 and let me tell you, that store was awesome! The place is huge and so open. It used to be a high end bathroom fixture store, and it sets in a little strip mall with various restaurants like Dairy Queen, Subway, a Chinese place and a movie rental shop, among other things. It's got tall plane glass windows in the front and it's very well lit, but not overbearingly, so it gives it a pleasant feel.

When you first walk in on the right is a walk in glass display case that used to be a shower (for showing shower heads) with statues and busts lining the shelves, and to the right of the case is a section of other similar items. On the left is the game section where you can find games for just about every system including vintage ones like original Atari and Nintendo games, but also X-Box 360 and so forth.

Beyond that initial section the store opens up in an array of various sections. You have the huge checkout counter just beyond the game section, and across from that, if I'm remembering correctly, is the Blue Line art supplies section with it's own counter. In between them are models for customizing and novelty items like mugs and stuff, as well as the trade section. On the far side of the counter is a wall of gaming cards and such. Down from the art supply section is an identical section, but for toys and action figures. In the middle there's all the new releases and recent issues, which cover several shelves similar to how you'd find a video game rental store setup, which was pretty cool. On the back wall on the right side were shirts and posters and prints.

On the left across from the toy section is the huge gallery area, which right now is filled with the back issue boxes, but will be the site for various events and signings. It's got two huge openings with a small wall with a window in between, and a half moon structure jutting out on the ceiling.

Then in the back through the door is a whole other section of the store with two or three offices, a full bathroom with shower, a loading dock, a storage room and just extra space.

Imagine all of that with soft classical music playing in the background, and some of us actually found ourselves whispering it was so pleasant. They say it looked even bigger before all the stuff was moved in, but it still looks pretty spacious as is.

Chuck is going to be posting pictures of the place soon on Comic Related. I'll link here when he does.

They're having a grand opening party the first weekend of March, which I'll be attending. I'll also be there for Free Comic Book Day (the first one I've ever attended) in May and the sketch card event for cancer in April.

What's even cooler about the place is when you walk in you find genuinely friendly people who want to talk to you and are knowledgeable about comics and eager to help you find something or chat with you all day long. It's easy to lose hours in that place and not even realize it. That's the kind of environment I've been missing for all these years, and I'm glad to have found this place.

That said, Collectibles, Etc., my home shop for years, is a pretty decent place also, and Tony has always been cool to me. But maybe because I didn't go in there that often or wasn't into the same kind of books or whatever, I still felt a little bit like an outsider there. It was just go in, get my books, say a couple of sentences, then leave. And while I have started meeting some cool people in the area, like Chuck and RD Hall to name a couple, I still love going up to C2G for hanging out and just being amongst people with similar interests, something I haven't had in a long time.

Anyway, after I looked around a bit and said my hellos Scott showed up and the two of us began looking through the new releases for stuff to pick up. I hadn't bought comics in so long I was so behind on everything, but had limited cash to spend. I wound up picking up five books, all Dark Reign related, which ran me somewhere around $15 after discount, and I was done. I was tempted to pick up several other things, but just couldn't this trip. I don't spend much on myself, but I treated myself that day a little.

Once Chuck, Katie and Jackie (they took Jackie with them for some reason I don't recall at the moment) got back we started a series of meetings. Well, first we ate. They had ordered pizza, so everyone but me was chowing down. My stomach had been bothering me, so I didn't want to take a chance on pizza. So Jackie and I headed over to Subway (she only ate one small piece of pizza) and got six inch subs for lunck.

The first meeting, once lunch was over, was about Comics XP, which didn't really involve me or Scott. Scott and Jackie were drawing at the corner of one table, and I just kind of listened with interest half the time, and the other half admired the sketches Scott and Jackie were doing. Speaking of which, Jackie gave me some fan art for the Wannabez site that I'll put up this week.

Once that meeting was over we talked about the web comics coming to Comic Related soon, including, of course, the strip I'm doing. We didn't really discuss a lot about that particular strip per se, but moreso how they would be presented and various other things like that. Darren and I did, however, chat today online and threw back and forth some more ideas and now have a solid opening. I just have to script them up and Jackie will get to drawing them. It's going to be a fun strip, and the plan is to go live with it soon. I don't know if I can announce the date yet, so I'll keep you posted.

Finally after all that it was around 2 and Scott and I snuck off to Dairy Queen to talk Wannabez, and to grab some sweets. Scott got a Blizzard that he let melt and maybe ate three bites of. I got a caramel Moolatte, which I completely downed I'm sad to say. Then the brainstorming (or lack thereof) ensued. You'll have to read soon on the Wannabez blog what happened, but suffice it to say I couldn't remember anything and while we did get some stuff laid out, it was kind of a bust due to my lack of functioning brain cells that day.

Around 4:30 everyone was hungry again, so we hooked back up and went to a Mongolian buffet place and had some Asian cuisine. I wasn't too hungry, so I got some fruit, some rice I didn't eat, and some peanut chicken, which was absolutely delicious. We then all sat and talked about everything from Transformers to Power Rangers to I don't even remember what else. I didn't say much, but I listened and laughed.

Afterwards we headed over to Darren, Krista and Jackie's house to play some MaroKart on the Wii tournament style. I didn't fare too well, but I wasn't the worst thankfully.

So then it was a long ride home chatting with Chuck and Katie again, who we thought were going home to a dark and cold house. Fortunately their power was back on, and mine was still intact as well, so all ended nicely.

Sunday I kind of just chilled. I tried to get a little work done, but I was beat and didn't accomplish much until night time. I had intended to stay up late Sunday night and get some stuff done, but ended up falling asleep around 2 I think, which is not what I consider late.

So all in all, I had a really fun weekend. Considering the fact that I was seriously thinking about staying home to work I think it turned out really well. I needed it. I hadn't been out of the house hardly at all for a couple of weeks and needed to get away and just have some fun, and that I did.