sept 12 - sept 29 2006

sept.12.06

Chicken Noodle Soup.

One of the little things that sucks about being a Celiac is that almost all canned chicken noodle soups have gluten in them, so when you get sick, you have to make chicken noodle soup from scratch. And since you're not your mom, it doesn't taste NEARLY as good.

Baltimore completely wiped me out this past weekend. I don't do well cooped up indoors for a whole weekend to begin with. Then again, the weather just made a total 180, and that's not good for anybody's body.

So I don't know what's the culprit - the convention or Mother Nature - but I've been knocked on my ass. I was already planning on putting GWS on hold for a week so I could make time to move, but getting sick on top of it all kinda blows. At least I'm not taking off TWO weeks of GWS, I guess (that is, assuming my cable installation goes okay on Friday!).

That said, please bear with me if GWS doesn't get updated again until next week sometime. Believe me, it irks me just as much as it irks you.

MMmmmm.....

I do have to take something back. Homemade chicken noodle soup doesn't have to suck. This is DELICIOUS!!

Anyway, on a closing note, I was completely NOT myself this past weekend at Baltimore (I started getting sick on Saturday morning), so if I came off as rude or just plain dull to anyone who saw me there, please forgive me. I felt cranky and grumpy all weekend and I can only hope I still managed to behave myself.

Oh, one more thing. When women get their clits pierced, do they really get their CLITS pierced? I mean like, the little ball of nerves, the actual CLITORIS? The thought of this has plagued me all day. How can that be possible? Why not a labia or something not quite so sensitive? Isn't getting your clit pierced the sexual equivalent of banging your elbow really really hard? This puzzles me so.

You don't have to answer that if you don't want to.

sept.13.06

Exciting!!

Wow, I don't think I've ever woken up to that many e-mails with the word "clit" in the subject as I did this morning. (Normally it's "penis enlargement.") You guys are awesome.

(And yes, the answer to the question is "hood, not clit." And the answer to the OTHER question is, NO, I am NOT asking because I want one!! I like mine just the way it is, metal-free, thank you.)

Alright, so I get my key tomorrow, which means I'm going to start moving into my new apartment IMMEDIATELY!! Which also, unfortunately, means that I'm going to have to take off from GWS for a little while. Most likely the strips will return Wednesday or Friday, but it all depends. I've never moved from an actual APARTMENT to, well, another actual APARTMENT. The last time I moved was from half of a tiny dorm (yeah, I've been living here awhile!). So I don't know how all this stuff works yet.

Luckily, sleeping in today helped me recover from whatever it was that plagued me yesterday. I'm still not feeling 100%, but 80% is still a B, right?

Anyway, I hope the above art from Baltimore will hold you guys over for a little while as I make the big move! Hopefully pictures from the REST of the show will be up while I'm moving, as well. Regardless, I'll try to make as many little mini-posts as possible while I'm away.

Chookers! (Quick, what movie?!)

PS. That first drawing of Ultimate Black Cat is entitled "My First MySpace Picture."

sept.13.06

Piece of work.

Oh wow. Oooooh wow. I bit off way more than I could chew.

So I got the key to my new apartment today. Well... it's certainly BIG, but... my landlord hasn't TOUCHED it. In fact, the only thing I know he's done is LOOK at it.

It needs to be painted. It needs to be cleaned. The linoleum needs to be ripped up and replaced. The water heater needs to be replaced. The carpet needs to be replaced (or I need to buy a shitload of rugs!). The bathroom vanity needs to be replaced. There are bare bulbs. Wires hanging from the ceiling. Warped wood in the closets. A smelly fridge. A dirty oven. Drafts from the windows (of which there are at least 25). Holes in the walls.

Oh, and worst of all... the kitchen is PINK!!

So my landlord will be getting a surprise phone call tonight. And in the meantime, I'm going to be on my knees painting and cleaning and spackling for the next many, many days.

Somehow, in the midst of all this, I'm going to get my and A. David Lewis's story for Postcards done.

Somehow....

I'm going to bring you guys along on this journey to make my apartment look badass by the end of the year. Here's what it looks like now (and yes, the fireplace is in my bedroom and YES, the sunroom will be my studio!!):

the living room

the office

the bathroom

the kitchen

the sunroom/studio

the bedroom

sept.18.06

Fake start!

Alright. The place was unliveable (stove isn't working, water heater leaked into downstairs apartment, need to do electrical work in kitchen), so I asked my landlord to rip up my check and just let me move in when everything's finished. Lucky for me, my roommate wasn't against the idea! We're gonna miss each other so much when I move... 1.5 blocks away.

Speaking of whom, we were even thinking about swapping places - the place we live now is perfect for me, and besides, he's REALLY good at that whole fixer-upper thing. I'd be missing out on an awesome project and studio space, but at least I could visit the place whenever I want if he's living there!

So what does this mean? This means I'll inevitably have another period of no GWS (apologies for no strip today - although I'm not moving in yet, I've been spending all my time working on the new place). But it also means I don't have to get used to a new studio to work on Postcards, which is nice.

And it means that I have a larger window of time to figure out what I'm going to do with the ginormous painting the previous tenants left in the sunroom. I discovered why they never took it with them:

That's the 5'x6' painting trying to fit down the stairs. Or, trying to not fit down the stairs.

This was also the last photograph we have of my beloved flip-top water bottle and measuring tape. I learned very quickly NOT to place things on the banister. R.I.P.

What else, what else? I had more to say, but it's 3 am and I'm ready to pass out...

Oh, here's one. My and Kris's cars were broken into Friday night. So someone out there now has three books of CDs that they will never, ever listen to. Congratulations on your new ripped collections of Journey, Elliott Smith, and the Ani Difranco, boys.

But here's the kicker: They completely missed Kris's wallet, which he accidentally left in plain sight next to the glove box they looted. Amatuers!

(Goodnight for now, but more updates are coming later... sporradically!)

sept.20.06

Let that be a lesson to you...

Dead hookers are not a joke.

sept.22.06

Sleeeeeeeeepy...

Too tired to write, but please check back a little later in the day Friday for a special announcement about the auctions for Paul Taylor's son - I'll be contributing/auctioning off pieces for the cause, too!

In the meantime, give him a hand!! There's a bunch of sweet art being sold in his (and his family's) honor!

sept.22.06

And more!...

A few little extras for you guys:

First of all, since I've been too busy to do anything about all those Baltimore photos I shot, here's In The Puddle creator (and professional hottie) Christi Johnson's photo collection from B'more. Enjoy!

Next, as promised, the Paul Taylor thing. I decided the best idea would be to auction off the two guest strips I've done - one for PVP and one for Wapsi Square - to make some money for him while he and his family are going through kind of a rough spot.

Last but not least, Jason Rodriguez posted my first page of the Postcards story I'm illustrating at the Postcards MySpace page - go check it out!

sept.25.06

Question...

If I go to Mid-Ohio Con (November 25-26), how many smiles would that put on peoples' faces? I don't wanna go unless some of you guys are gonna be there, too. :) Tell me!

sept.28.06

EVERYTHING HATES ME!!!

I've been keeping you guys in the dark. Allow me to share with you what's going on in my life, and the reason for no GWS update until Monday!

Apartment
Alas, my new apartment (using the word "new" to describe anything about that apartment makes me giggle) will not be mine. However, I WILL have a spare key to it! My wonderful roommate will be taking it instead, and he's already sanded all the floors, spackled, painted, uprooted the carpet in the bedroom, and fixed numerous other little things, so I think the two of them will make a better couple.

I'll still post photos here to show you guys the progress of said repairs and repaintings - and we can all be jealous as all hell when it's finished next year!

Mid-Ohio Con
Wow, the responses!! Okay, guys. If you can make it worth my while (aka. send a lot of people over to get sketches!), I'll totally come out to Mid-Ohio Con. Now if only the Mid-Ohio Con people would get back to me so I can buy a table... !!!

Well, there is ONE catch: you guys need to help me find a new car. Which leads me to...

My Car
My wonderful, horrible, beloved and most hated old Honda. It's a 93 Accord. I love it like a mechanical sister. But you know what? 13-year-old cars are FUCKING OLD. And she reminded me of that today.

I'm currently borrowing my mom's van and playing Soccer Mom for the next few days while my car gets fixed... AGAIN. Today was the first day I've driven her since I got her back from the shop two days ago. Yeeeaaaah. So. I'm going to need a new car - or find a ride to Columbus - before I commit to the Mid-Ohio Con.

Oh, more on mechanical things hating me...

My Stupid Phone
Never, ever, ever buy the low-end phones from Sprint! I've bought two of them. One of them is just a piece of crap. The other one burned to death in my hand last week. Why yes, it has been an eventful 7 days!

Thing is, if you don't have phone insurance (yes, PHONE INSURANCE!!), Sprint won't replace your depressed, suicidal and still smoking phone. Observe:

"Ooookay, it looks like you don't have phone insurance, so we won't be able to replace this phone. But we do have a special on--"

"A special on what?? Replacing my phone?"

"Nooo, we can't do that here without phone insurance."

"BUT I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO IT!! It's not like it 'fell down the steps again,' it just... burned up in my hand!!"

"Yes, but that's a Sanyo product, so only Sanyo can replace it for you."

"... but I bought it HERE..."

"Oh, look at this - I see you just bought this phone three months ago, so it's still under warranty."

"That's...... okay, good. Now can I please have a replacement?"

"You have to call Sanyo."

"Call Sanyo WITH WHAT? Their defective PHONE??!!"

"All of our display phones can call out. You can call from one of those."

So I find a phone that actually has phone functions, and is not a radio-internet-camera-cuisinart that occasionally takes phone calls.

I struggle with the surprisingly strong cord pulling it into the wall. The cord wins. I sigh, dial Sanyo, and press my ear up to the phone, which is flush with the wall.

"Thank you for calling Sanyo! Our hours are [NOT THE HOURS YOU ARE CURRENTLY CALLING]. If you'd like to leave a message at customer service, please press 4."

"Oh for the love of--- 4"

At that moment I realize... Sanyo can not call me because their fucking phone killed itself in my very hands!!!

I hang up, and begin walking angrily toward the woman who recommended the "wall phones" to me. Just as I walk up, I start fiddling with my old phone to show her the damage it had done (the top of the screen had burned up to a handsome ochre/burnt canary color after the earpiece overheated and the smell of burning plastic filled the room). And just as I start fiddling with my phone........ it works.

I have a fucking zombie phone.

So... for now... I still have a phone. A burn victim phone. Once it dies again, I will be sending Sanyo a request for a new phone - so I can sell it on eBay - as I bite my lip and march back over to the Sprint store to play their silly game, and buy myself a $250 cuisinart-phone.

EBay Auctions
Keep 'em coming, guys! only 19 more hours (as of this post, which means Friday evening-ish) to bid on the original art for my guest strip at Wapsi Square and the original art for my guest strip at PvP to help Paul and his wife take care of their new baby boy, who just came home from the hospital after an extended stay, if I read correctly! (YAY, PAUL!!)

Donation Art! ... oh, and overflow sketches!
Ah, finally. Someone brought it up with me (and in the most kind, understanding fashion, even). YES, everyone who donated $20+ when I was desperately in need of it will be receiving a small color sketch in the mail. They are sitting here, half of them finished and half of them ready to be colored. I had to order a few new markers, which were back-ordered, but several of them came in just today. So thank you all for being so incredibly patient with me. You people amaze me.

As for overflow sketches... you'll never hear me say this again, but next week's project just got cancelled, and I have almost no new projects in October, and I am SO HAPPY about it. I'll be living off caricature gigs and my savings account, and finally finishing overdue art that people have long since paid for. Thanks for your understanding, though, guys. You've been so incredible with me.

SO. Now that all THAT'S out... the next strip will be up Monday for you guys, and I'll try to do a few extra special good thangs for you while I'm at it.

Oh, and to everyone who's been sending me encouraging e-mails... THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!! I know I barely get to respond to any of you, but you guys totally keep me going. It's so warming to hear that my hard work IS indeed paying off. If I'm making you guys smile, I'm doing my job. I'm glad I get to play a part in brightening your days, and I hope I continue doing so, especially for free. This is my favorite job, ever. :)