http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080622/sc_afp/environmentwhalingiwcwhales_080622030528
*rant*
Why is everybody always yelling about how sensitive whales are? I feel like the whole world has this collective emotional boner over the idea of the largest animal on earth being extremely sensitive and fragile inside. Seriously. I would love to see a headline sometime like "Whale Destroys Town, Totally Fucks Shit Up"
Tagline: "Whales are enormous"
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Where I've Been
I've been sticking closer to home lately, after deciding, on my 817th consecutive BART trip across the bay, that I was worn out and needing to spend a little more time adoring my adopted hometown.
Don't get me wrong---I'm a Chicagoan, to the core, and always will be. But I'm surprised at how much I've come to love Oakland. The two year mark is when I thought I'd be leaving the Bay area, and instead I am just getting my footing, so I am glad to be staying.
Reasons I love Oakland:
--People here are friendly and welcoming. I have all kinds of nice conversations on the bus, in lines, on bikes---people will just chat you up anywhere. Now that I take the bus every day, I know that drivers like to pull up alongside each other to shoot the shit along routes. People just love to talk here.
--It's old fashioned. Old cars are everywhere. Barber shops and burger joints. Hardly a chain restaurant to be found.
--There are palm trees.
--It's a tough place, but it has a big heart. Lots of crime, but people fight it. And say hi to each other on the street in the morning.
--The puny downtown. Aww! It's so cute!
--People are chill. There's a more relaxed feel than in San Francisco (or Chicago, for that matter). Sometimes after a long and active day in SF, I take the train back over, feel the warm sun and the breeze, and just feel pure relief.
--I love biking to the gym, or biking to my studio...
--Warm sunshine from the east in my apartment in the morning.
--Beautiful sunset from my kitchen table at night.
Don't get me wrong---I'm a Chicagoan, to the core, and always will be. But I'm surprised at how much I've come to love Oakland. The two year mark is when I thought I'd be leaving the Bay area, and instead I am just getting my footing, so I am glad to be staying.
Reasons I love Oakland:
--People here are friendly and welcoming. I have all kinds of nice conversations on the bus, in lines, on bikes---people will just chat you up anywhere. Now that I take the bus every day, I know that drivers like to pull up alongside each other to shoot the shit along routes. People just love to talk here.
--It's old fashioned. Old cars are everywhere. Barber shops and burger joints. Hardly a chain restaurant to be found.
--There are palm trees.
--It's a tough place, but it has a big heart. Lots of crime, but people fight it. And say hi to each other on the street in the morning.
--The puny downtown. Aww! It's so cute!
--People are chill. There's a more relaxed feel than in San Francisco (or Chicago, for that matter). Sometimes after a long and active day in SF, I take the train back over, feel the warm sun and the breeze, and just feel pure relief.
--I love biking to the gym, or biking to my studio...
--Warm sunshine from the east in my apartment in the morning.
--Beautiful sunset from my kitchen table at night.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
My Other Other Other Love
God, I could talk about feminism all day long. But since it can be hard to find another person who feels the same way,* I usually just think about it all day. Lately I have been thinking a lot about that favorite old chestnut: women and comics. Questions like, why don't more women make comics? (A: They do, you just don't notice them.) Is the comics world welcoming to women? (A: In theory, yes. In practice, no. Just like the rest of the world really.) What can I do to encourage women's interest in comics? (A: you tell me!)
My top-of-the-head, really-should-be-getting-out-of-my-pajamas-and-over-to-the-gym thoughts on the subject---all thoughts that I would like to explore in the coming weeks in this blog---are:
--women aren't represented enough in comics
--women aren't as good as men at self promotion
--women have a hard time trusting their abilities in comics
You can think of this blog entry as a thesis statement.
PS, I have more sketchbook stuff to post, I just really really hate scanning, ok??!
*Unless you happen to be BFFs with the lovely Cuffington. Which I am, lucky me!
My top-of-the-head, really-should-be-getting-out-of-my-pajamas-and-over-to-the-gym thoughts on the subject---all thoughts that I would like to explore in the coming weeks in this blog---are:
--women aren't represented enough in comics
--women aren't as good as men at self promotion
--women have a hard time trusting their abilities in comics
You can think of this blog entry as a thesis statement.
PS, I have more sketchbook stuff to post, I just really really hate scanning, ok??!
*Unless you happen to be BFFs with the lovely Cuffington. Which I am, lucky me!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Ever have one of those days......
So, here's what I did on Tuesday morning.
I packed up my portfolio case with all the stuff I've been working on---the six-pager, the first nine or so strips of the webcomic, plus random sketches---and all my supplies, and brought it with me to work. I do this often so I can squeeze a little drawing in at lunchtime. On this particular day I was also heading to my friend Sharon's after work for a drawing/zine-ing night. On this particular day, I thought as I rode the bus, "gosh, wouldn't it be terrible if I left my portfolio on the bus some day? What would I even DO? I'd lose everything, who knows if I would ever get it back.."
And twenty minutes later, I left my portfolio on the bus. Containing everything I've drawn since March. All the completed work on the six-pager, plus the entire script. All the un-inked webcomics. My fancy schmancy brush pen. My pencils and special comics paper. Doodles and ideas for projects I wanted to start. I didn't discover this until I was getting ready to leave work and head to Sharon's house. By that time, the customer service office for the bus company was closed, and there was fuck all I could do about my lost work until 8am.
At first, I kind of freaked. I mean, I've lost work before. Or worked forever on big projects that just never came to fruition. But this stuff was my *new direction.* A breakup comic that detailed my most tender feelings of loss for my ex, as opposed to the ones I've been posting about jaded farm animals. A webcomic that explores my childhood traumas with a joyful eye. The New Path I've been forging for myself since ending a relationship that included both comics collaboration and major love'n'hearts. Me striking bravely out on my own as a single lady.
And then I started to think, ya know, I don't really have much choice except to be kind of zen about this. I mean, I was getting my portfolio back or I wasn't, that was pretty much it, and I wasn't going to know which it was until 8am when the lost and found opened up. And maybe, this was a sign. I like to think of objectionable things as signs, rather than just stupid fucked up shit that I cannot change---it's much better. Maybe I'm supposed to see this as a reason to, as Moneet said when I ran into her on the train on the way home, "let go of some things." Which is funny because I actually had been thinking lately that my drawing since I have Struck Out On My Own has been too morose, and even I am losing interest in it.
So I bought a new sketchbook and some new pencils, and I started charting some new territory. Literally.......
Oh, and the next morning, I asked the bus driver if anyone had turned in a black zippered portfolio case. He said yes and then produced my portfolio from a magic compartment above his head. I brought him homemade cookies the next day.
I packed up my portfolio case with all the stuff I've been working on---the six-pager, the first nine or so strips of the webcomic, plus random sketches---and all my supplies, and brought it with me to work. I do this often so I can squeeze a little drawing in at lunchtime. On this particular day I was also heading to my friend Sharon's after work for a drawing/zine-ing night. On this particular day, I thought as I rode the bus, "gosh, wouldn't it be terrible if I left my portfolio on the bus some day? What would I even DO? I'd lose everything, who knows if I would ever get it back.."
And twenty minutes later, I left my portfolio on the bus. Containing everything I've drawn since March. All the completed work on the six-pager, plus the entire script. All the un-inked webcomics. My fancy schmancy brush pen. My pencils and special comics paper. Doodles and ideas for projects I wanted to start. I didn't discover this until I was getting ready to leave work and head to Sharon's house. By that time, the customer service office for the bus company was closed, and there was fuck all I could do about my lost work until 8am.
At first, I kind of freaked. I mean, I've lost work before. Or worked forever on big projects that just never came to fruition. But this stuff was my *new direction.* A breakup comic that detailed my most tender feelings of loss for my ex, as opposed to the ones I've been posting about jaded farm animals. A webcomic that explores my childhood traumas with a joyful eye. The New Path I've been forging for myself since ending a relationship that included both comics collaboration and major love'n'hearts. Me striking bravely out on my own as a single lady.
And then I started to think, ya know, I don't really have much choice except to be kind of zen about this. I mean, I was getting my portfolio back or I wasn't, that was pretty much it, and I wasn't going to know which it was until 8am when the lost and found opened up. And maybe, this was a sign. I like to think of objectionable things as signs, rather than just stupid fucked up shit that I cannot change---it's much better. Maybe I'm supposed to see this as a reason to, as Moneet said when I ran into her on the train on the way home, "let go of some things." Which is funny because I actually had been thinking lately that my drawing since I have Struck Out On My Own has been too morose, and even I am losing interest in it.
So I bought a new sketchbook and some new pencils, and I started charting some new territory. Literally.......
Oh, and the next morning, I asked the bus driver if anyone had turned in a black zippered portfolio case. He said yes and then produced my portfolio from a magic compartment above his head. I brought him homemade cookies the next day.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Get You Some
I am now a proud businessman! though still working on the three-piece suit. And the penis. But dudes, you can like buy my stuff now via this cool site called Etsy. Click the image to the right.
Didja notice that I haven't posted about Stumptown yet? I would say it's because I am a lazy ass, but I actually HAVE been hard at work since then, on a new project. What is it? Wouldn't you like to know! (You will pretty soon!) (And, fine, I'll post about Stumptown too..)
Didja notice that I haven't posted about Stumptown yet? I would say it's because I am a lazy ass, but I actually HAVE been hard at work since then, on a new project. What is it? Wouldn't you like to know! (You will pretty soon!) (And, fine, I'll post about Stumptown too..)
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