Year End Wrap Up. Last Blog of 2016? LET'S HOPE SO!

Merry Christmas everyone! And here is my gift to you and to myself... because I am SOOOOO ready to put a goddamn button on 2016...

2016 in a nutshell....

 Here it is! My annual year end bloggy, recapping and commenting on everything from the past year. And this year was a fucking tough, tough, TOUGH one. Fucking brutal. Ranked in the top 5 personal worst of my life. But hey, we’re still here right? Before 2017 puts on its boxing gloves, lets get this over with:

2016 Year End Wrap Up…

My year condensed:  In January I woke up on the first in Grand Ledge after a late night party with Matt, Michelle and my GF at the time. We were determined to make 2016 our bitch. Little did we know that 2016 was already strapping on a huge, floppy, razor-blades glued to it SEVEN style dildo to start fucking us immediately. First three celebrity deaths were Alan Rickman, David Bowie and Glenn Frey… So it began. It was all downhill from there.

I was busy finishing up Starslam 2 to launch the Kickstarter in April. On January 24^th I turned 38. I bought a new bass guitar and amp with the intention to focus on writing some new music and maybe record an album in the summer. It never happened. It sat in my closet all year. In February I saw a Ska show with Gabriel and my GF and then we took a trip to Ann Arbor (my first time being there). I did all sorts of shopping and sight seeing. After that, my GF and I parted ways under good terms at the time. I helped pack her stuff for her to get when the lease in Grand Ledge was up. She had moved to Detroit in January.  At the end of the month was the MSU COMICS FORUM where I sold books and met Sergio Aragonies. Then we all went to Sherief’s house and drew dicks on a huge slab of paper.

In March I did the first Fantasticon Lansing and sold decently. Caleb and Joe were there and drew a bunch of dicks and had random people deliver them to me. It was great fun! Dean was set up next to me as well. Later on, I went to Horrorhound Cincinnati with Caleb, Colleen and Joe and had a blast! During this time I started chatting with a girl online and our talks got deep right away. Eventually we met and started dating. I wasn’t really looking to get into another relationship at all but it sort of happened. Her name: Danielle or as I dub her: “Kitty D.” We continued our courtship throughout the year, marking one of the only GOOD things to happen in 2016! Shortly around this time I helped Dean and Mjit move things into their storage.

In April I started collecting NES games, dropping my vinyl habit.  I later sold my collection and player in December. I also really ramped up my CD/DVD/Blu-Ray collecting. I did FCBD at Summit Comics and had fun as always. In anticipation for August, I signed a lease back in East Lansing where I was the year previous. I started boxing up everything in the apartment and getting new shit for my new place. Little did I know I wouldn’t be going there alone! I finished up Starslam and launched the Kickstarter in May. It raised over $3,800… far exceeding the first Starslam in numbers and money earned. It was one of the best moments of the year and my life. I also went to the Motor City Comic Con and sold decently, but realized I am burned out on the comic con experience, so I started thinking it might be my last one for a long while. Some disappointments abounded with the show and I just got disenfranchised about the whole affair. It was a valuable lesson learned. To end the month, I saw one of my favorite bands, GHOST, play live in Grand Rapids.

In June the Starslam 3 books came back from the printer and I got them all out the door. I took a solo trip to Saginaw/Midland/Bay City (old stomping grounds) and relived some old memories and made new ones! Then ended June by seeing ALICE IN CHAINS/GUNS N ROSES at Ford Field with my old pals Nick and Christine. In July my son Cody came and stayed with me for two weeks. We took a trip together to Carmi, Illinois to see where our family originates and to see my dad. I started another diet which didn’t take. I also began to struggle with getting artwork done. This is a pattern which would continue all year. End of July I helped Caleb’s family move into their new home.

And then August… fucking August. August 6^th Caleb passed away in a car wreck. What followed was months of depression, events to celebrate his life and raise funds for his family. My eating and depression spiraled out of control as I tried to keep my anger and life in check. The calm situation with my ex GF deteriorated and things got really heated and crazy for a while. Kitty D’s living situation also fizzled and so we decided to jump into the deep waters and move in together. We had friends come and help us move our things from Grand Ledge to East Lansing. It was a shitty move all around but we got through it. We worked hard to make the small living place our own and give it equal flair and comfort. September brought two trips to celebrate Caleb’s life. First was to Horrorhound Indianapolis where Joe raised funds for Caleb and brought in just under $3k. Kitty D loved the horror show and we decided to only do horror cons from now on. Then the next weekend we went to a Drive Inn camping weekend in Shaumberg, Indiana… a trip Caleb, Joe and I planned earlier in the year. A weekend of camping, Burlesque girls and watching horror movies at a drive in theater. It was fun but rainy and a bit depressing with Caleb not being there. But I’m glad I went.

Starting in the late summer and drifting through October/November, I was working sporatically on Starslam 3, Pleasant Life 2 and other things. Production has been spotty at best. I hired my first colorist and he was doing great things with the new Starslam pages I was doing. Andy’s work on the book so far really has given me my only spark of energy through some hard, depression filled months. In October my youngest son was hurt in a way I cannot go into, but it certainly ranks as one of the worst things to happen all year. Thus continues the spiraling depression and anger. November, Trump was elected and man, that’s a whole other blog post. Let's not even go there right now. Kitty D and I adopted a cat and named her "Lily Munster." She's a pain in the butt but brings a lot of love to our lives. Then finally December, a tree was planted at my day job in Caleb’s honor. The new job I helped Dean get ended up not working out. Christmas came and it was a frustrating visit with the kids. I came out with some great gifts and got severely drunk all weekend. 

Everything this year ended in such a down note. With the smoke clearing, we’re all left now scratching our heads thinking: WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!?!

There are so many other minor things and stress I could talk about that happened throughout the year, but all of it really is just added to the big pot of "WTF 2016." It was just a bad year all around. No one I know can argue otherwise. But you know what, we made it through. We survived the storm. And who knows what 2017 will bring. There is always the puncher’s chance of some progress and happiness. I got plans and schemes to go for in the new year and things to look forward to. I hope that I get into an upward swing. I hope to continue on the path out of the darkness and into some light. So say we all.

And FUCK YOU 2016. Seriously. FUCK… YOU…

Let's get to the lists: 

Best movies:

Star Trek Beyond, Deadpool, Don’t Breathe, Eight Days a Week, Suicide Squad, Batman v. Superman, Rush: Time Stand Still, Green Room, Star Wars: Rogue One (As of press time, I haven't seen this yet but I'll likely dig it so I put it on this list).

Best albums:

Anthrax: For all Kings, Neal Morse Band: The Similitude of a Dream, Metallica: Hardwired, Ace Frehley: Origins, David Bowie: Blackstar, Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool, Leonard Cohen: You Want it Darker.

Best books I read:

Digging up Mother: Doug Stanhope, A few FAMOUS LOCATIONS books by Chris Epting, The Artist's Way: Julia Cameron, Trigger Warnings: Neil Gaiman, Invincible: Kirkman/Ottley/Walker, Jessica Jones: Bendis/Gaydos.

Best TV:

Ash v. Evil Dead, Stranger Things, Eric Andre Show, Jessica Jones, Walking Dead, Preacher, Maron, South Park.

Worst Famous Deaths:

Steve Dillon, Jack Davis, Alan Rickman, Anton Yelchin, Kenny Baker, Muhammud Ali, Robert Vaughn, Gene Wilder, Tony Burton (Rocky), Ron Glass (Firefly/Barney Miller), Leonard Cohen, Chyna, Glenn Frey, Prince, David Bowie, Alan Young, Gary Shandling, Noel Neil (Superman), George Kennedy, David Huddleston (Big Labowski), Mr. Fuji, Drummer Nick Menza, Michael Massee (The Crow), Tom Neyman (The MASTER from Manos). 

Worst Events:

Caleb’s death, My son’s abuse, Weight Gain, Bad Breakup, The election and post-election events, Depression.

Best Events:

Meeting and falling in love with Kitty D, Guns N Roses/Alice in Chains/Ghost/Reel Big Fish-Suburban Legends-Maxies, Horrorhound memories, Starslam 2’s success, Hiring a Colorist, Book Sales increasing, MSU Forum and post-show party, various con appearances, Drive Inn trip, NES Collecting, two weeks with Cody, Tri-Cities trip, Ann Arbor trip.

2017 Events to look forward to:

Diet, vacation trip, releasing new material/final material, Star Wars 8, The move back to Grand Ledge area, Joint Custody of my boys, Seeing Cody hit his Senior year in HS, maybe doing new music, Exxxotica Con and let’s hope LOTS MORE!

Okay: Goals for 2017---

1- HEALTH - Dude, gotta drop some weight. Its serious. And my mental health needs to be addressed. I'm considering a return to therapy to get some stuff out of the basement and take care of some of the new things that trip me up now. Plus, it seems all of this year I've had no consistent progress on my projects. What holds me back? Well, I'd love to find out and address it! 

2- PROJECTS - Finish them! Get them done and gone. 

3- SAVE MONEY - I got some big events coming in 2017. Trips, new car, a move late summer and taking on my kids in joint custody. So I got some things to shoot for. I'm going to continue my savings efforts and make these things happen! 

4- EVOLVE THE BUSINESS - Do something new with Idiothead.com. I'm talking getting my store revamped, do more online business, back away from commission work and as I finish all projects... move into something new. Maybe not even related to the business. Just move into doing some new type of art. I might get back into some oil painting or making music or putting together the model kits I bought many years ago and finally finishing them! Maybe do some things for just ME. Chase the whimsies and back away from the table of the business. We'll see. 

5- VLOGS - I haven't announced it yet but I plan to do bi-weekly blogs all year to celebrate my final year of my 30s. I'm using old footage, new footage, process footage, etc. Really beef up the youtube channel and make it something fun. Just to chase the idea. I've already started this and I will be annoying everyone around me in 2017 with it. Enjoy! 

Okay, thats it. Barring any major event to happen in the next few days, I'm going radio silent until the new year. I say that because even now, people like Carrie Fisher are in the hospital with health issues... it seems we may be done with this year, but this year ain't done with us. It might decide to roll us over for one last violent stabbing in our rears before it tosses a $5 bill on the bed and leaves us to cry and cope. 

Too harsh? Eh... thats my mind after surviving this year. But hey, like I said: We did survive. We're here. And we got our days ahead to get on with it. Let's just go, shall we?

Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and I'll see you next year... gladly!

--T

The Gathering of the Juggalos of Thoughts

Another blog so soon? Eh, why not. Its my outlet to write in the mornings. Plus people dig it, so fuck it. Let's go.

I'm out of new Howard Stern and podcasts this week, so I am listening back to old Idiothead Morning Show episodes from this past year. First of all, I think I'm boring as fuck and you folks are saints for still listening! Second of all, I've drifted through a lot of shit. I re-read some blogs over the last couple years and I gotta say this: I'm really goddamn lucky.

We look at 2016 as a shit year and yeah, it has been! Lots of celebrity death, lots of personal losses, economy being so-so, bad events, political BS.. on and on. But you know, I'm happy to have those things. I'm grateful I have the works those musicians, artists and actors left behind. I'll always have them with me. I'm grateful to have met a man like Caleb and I know his friends and family. We will continue to carry his spirit on with us the rest of our lives. I'm grateful for the bad shit that has happened to me. It kind of puts a nice spin on the good things that have happened to me and makes me more grateful to have them. We got to be alive at a great time to know these things and have them with us no matter what. Be grateful for that.

I'm slowly putting together my best of 2016 list and its surprisingly full of content! For as much bad shit that has happened this year, we got a lot of good things as well. And we're still here to keep the fires burning on the good things we have and of things to come.

I got a spark of enthusiasm about my projects this week and I know the end game of some of them now. I know how to push forward in the things I want to do. I'm making plans for things to come in 2017. Some things will be checked off my bucket list, that is for sure! I am returning to and embracing things that are important to me.

All in all, its a good thing to be right where we are. I know, you turn on the news or check the trending Twitter topics, it doesn't feel like it. But we're here. We're still standing and we're kicking ass. We'll be here to rise up and make our voices heard. Through our works and on down to how we treat each other. We are good people and we will prevail. And the art of who we are and what we do, will remain.

I'm proud and happy to stand with all of you, my friends. Let's keep rocking and rolling. Happy Thanksgiving.

--T

Days Drifting By

Hello my friends. Welcome back.

Well, we're into 2016 and so far the world hasn't blown up... yet. Wait til closer to election time. Man is it gonna be a year of online back and forth. I should go ahead and quit the facebook already. But who am I kidding? I self impose breaks from it and it lasts about a week. Its just too convenient an outlet to make your voice heard to those who care about you and to keep in touch with those who might. I think I've weeded out all the bad apples pretty much. I'm lucky in that when my friends do have differing opinions, that they don't vocally try to smash what I say, and I don't do it back to them. Tis a good thing to make your voice heard. But ultimately, its at the voting booth where you need to be the most vocal. Write in your choice and use your voice. Its our right. But be assured of the facts and not just what you hear. Do some research and soul searching. Kay?

I've been hip deep into long work weeks. My sleep is all over the place and I'm pretty out of it most of the time. All my free time is mostly gone so I try to stay sane during the hours at the job. But I've been coming up with lyrics and new song ideas for a new Idiothead project. I've also been listening to some new music like Big Black, Shellac, Peaches, Neal Morse stuff, Gwar, etc. And out of those things are coming new ideas. Shane and I are talking daily about doing some new recording and we already got a date lined up to get together and see what we can get done. My initial idea is to re-record a couple of our older tunes, clean up some old ones and record some new ones. I plan to maybe get an amp and some effects pedals possibly for the house soon. Been a long time since I sold my amp and I need a new one. A small one, but one I can use with Garage Band. Its wonderful what you can do nowadays. But rest assured, new music is finally coming. I got the bug to record, big time. I haven't recorded an album since 2005. Took 11 years, but I'm back to it. Most of you probably haven't heard any of my band's recordings. But you will. This year we'll make it happen. I'm picturing digital downloads, possibly even a vinyl release. HUGE expense that might not pay off, but fuck it. To have a vinyl record of my songs? That would be awesome! We'll see.

I had my kids three days over New Years. Its amazing how much they are growing up. My oldest son turns 16 February 2nd. That's just... wow! Hopefully the weather cooperates and I can trek over to see him soon. But the boys are all doing pretty well...

I know what you are thinking... what about the COMICS!?!?!?

Well, its still going. Slowly. I get a few pages colored here and there and then stop. Last week I inked a few more pages and light penciled a couple. I'm still rolling. Just not as intense as I used to. I'm sure soon I will get back into a rhythm. I've just been working a lot of hours at the day job and when I have had free time over the holidays I was always doing something. Not a bad thing to make new memories and have new experiences. I need that in my life.

The death of Lemmy from Motorhead really has got me down a bit. I was reading some quotes from him the other day and he said, "Nobody seems to enjoy themselves anymore. They are all knocking each other down for enjoying themselves." Reminds me of all the click bait articles and back and forth about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Like, no one can just go and have a good time anymore or enjoy things on a basic level. I've been guilty of over analyzing things. Shit, that's my middle fucking name! But the noise of people wanting to just shit on everything is just too much sometimes. It seeps into our brain and makes us jaded assholes. If you let it. Just be mindful that things could be so much worse and we could be getting utter shit for entertainment. Be grateful for what we have, and that we even get to take part in it. There's always something good to take from something.

For example: Everyone dislikes the Star Wars prequels right? Well, still, we got some great new John Williams music out of the movies. So there's that. See? Just try to come to the table and enjoy some of what you are served. Don't gorge and hate yourself for it. Sample and try. Cause you get to.

Shifting gears back to me: I am slowly coming out of the major depression I have been in since October. Things are getting better and thank Christ for that. I'm trying to keep on the positive path every day. I'm doing a lot of reading and soul searching. Necessary. Hopefully this continues. I want it to. The world needs me around to kick its ass into gear. And the drive and desire is slowly returning. Things are looking up and that's a damn good thing. I have goals and the ideas and want to achieve them. I think the next few months of my life are going to be very interesting.

One thing I have in my head is this extreme desire to own my own home. My credit is shot. My chances are slim, but one day within five years at the most, I want to be a home owner. I have tons and tons of photos of what I want the interior to look like. I watch a ton of home buying and renovating shows. I'm addicted to it. I want the pride and the safe zone of owning something big like that. Something that is MINE and cannot go away. I have outlined a plan to get it done. It is doable. And if the drive is strong enough, it will happen. I want a place for my kids to sleep, rather than the floor. I want a place I can paint and decorate myself, how I want it to look. I show off my ideas and people make fun of me for my tastes. But that's okay. My dreams cannot be squashed in this. I'm gonna make it happen. Mark my words here: within five years, I will own my own home. Fuck renting and apartments. I'll mow my lawn with pride! I'm gonna earn that for myself. Fuck yeah.

Anyway, those are all my thoughts lately. My brain is happy and things are rolling along. I'm tired but still driven at the end of the day. I'm sad but I'm smiling.

Sometimes that's all you need to get you through.

Cheers, T

Last Post of 2015

Hello friends! Its time to do a big recap and wrap-up of what was the year 2015. The year Marty McFly came to the future and we didn't have any fucking flying cars or Jaws 19. But we got a new Star Wars flick! I thought I'd do a run down of the best of the year and give my final thoughts on what happened this year.

Best Albums:
Faith No More, Scott Weiland, Kurt Cobain, David Gilmour, Neal Morse Band, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Marilyn Manson, Winery Dogs, and GHOST! All of these were in constant spin or stream in some form. Great year for music.

Best Movies:
Avengers 2, Creed, Star Wars 7 but the best by far was MAD MAX: FURY ROAD.

Best in TV:
South Park, Walking Dead, Eric Andre show, Evil Dead. Some other shows I have yet to catch up on.

Sad events/Saying Goodbye to:
Scott Weiland, Leonard Nimoy, Our political saneness (TRUMP), multiple shootings, Terrorism in Paris and the loss of my step-mother, Gloria.

RECAP:

In January, I seperated from my ex-wife and moved into my own place in East Lansing. I worked at Meijer as a cashier and overnight as a gas station clerk. I struggled financially and with time to see my kids. I was also nursing my broken heart and dealing with the death of my step-mom. I went to MSU COMICS FORUM in February and that night had my first date with Misty. She took a shine to me so we continued our relationship. She really has been a stable point in my life and has opened my eyes to a lot of things about myself that still haven't quite sunk in, but I need to hear. I attended Free Comic Book Day at Summit, Cap City Con in Lansing. Also GRASP EXPO in Grand Rapids. In April I got my new car: The Bat Blazer! (Who at the time I write this, his poor battery died! Gotta replace that today) In May I left Mejier (thank Christ) and started at Cap City Reprographics in old town Lansing. In June I went with Mjit and Dean to see RUSH on their final tour. Then I went to see MOTORHEAD and ANTHRAX with CROBOT with Robert. In September I traded Cap City and the Gas Station for a brand new graphic design job and I have been very happy there ever since. In October I was a guest at the GRAND RAPIDS COMIC CON. I also participated in a Halloween Event called MONSTER BASH, and also had a costume party at my house. In November I saw KING DIAMOND with EXODUS in Detroit and went to the Chicago DAYS OF THE DEAD Convention. In December I became a full staff member of my new job and had a great Christmas with my new friends and family.

During this year, I had tons of positive and negative things happen to me. It certainly was the hardest year I have ever went through for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I was on such a deep sense of autopilot, I don't know how I survived. But for as many bad things happened, I had greatness happen as well. It has been a year of healing and soul searching. Refining. Deciding. Rebuilding. Defining. And much of the work is still in progress.

GOALS FOR 2016:
WORK ON MYSELF - Health. Therapy. And other aspects.
FINISH PROJECTS AS I CHOOSE - Starslam 2. And whatever else I feel up to finishing. We'll see.
SAVE SAVE SAVE! My oldest starts college soon. Gotta get ready!
TRAVEL - I got plans to go to a couple new locations this year. Its gonna be a year where I branch out further than I have previous.
LEARN TO RELAX - Stress is literally killing me. I have not taken care of myself this year with working my ass off, lack of sleep, knee problems, foot injury and ulcers. Stress is a major factor in my life and I need to learn to calm down. I am going to the gym and therapy. I am reading more books and taking time out to enjoy dumb things like movies. Its necessary for me to do these things or else I will not be around much longer. I have been in emergency mode all year and its time for me to slow down.

The one thing I learned the most this year is that there is no law forcing you to remain the victim of the past. If you fucked up, or shit got fucked up, you can crawl out. It will take time and all you can rely on is yourself. But your survival instincts take over and you come out. It shows you how strong you are. And it does indeed, get better. So much better.

These are trying times. And I see a lot of my friends unhappy or suffering for one reason or another. It saddens me greatly. Them and to you, I say this:

There comes a time in your life when its time to say "Fuck it. I just don't care anymore, and can't believe I ever did." Its such a liberating thing to achieve that mind-change. It serves us well to get rid of things or feelings that do not serve you. Places, people, items, habits, friendships or relationships. All of these things can be toxic. And we must learn to stop the fight for ourselves. That is called self respect to not put up with bullshit anymore. Walk on. Let it go. Leave it behind. Its all old tired baggage. Stop carrying it. The clothes inside don't fit anymore anyway. All of us here have something we need to let go of. And its just that simple.

Let it go.

Lets make 2016 all about that fresh start. Here's to a happier 2016.

Cheers, T

STAR WARS and some other stuff

Hey my friends!~

By now the world is freaking balls about the new STAR WARS trailer. I know I am. (BTW, you can see it HERE. I see all my friends my age all having very strong reactions to it. For decades we've dreamed up the post-Jedi lives of Luke, Han, Leia... now we're gonna get a definitive screen version. Cool thing too is we have book and comic versions. Its like, pick your own story choice. Same with TREK. How Kirk died in the flicks but was resurrected in the books? Yeah, its just a good time to be a geek. I haven't bought any tickets yet, but I will at some point.

As a person who has the privilege to work on Star Wars card art for TOPPS, I get very excited at the possibility of drawing new characters or old characters with new looks and costumes. The force will indeed be strong with all of us. I cannot wait to see how it call unfolds. Its nice to be a very tiny part of it.

I gathered my thoughts from the events of this past weekend at Grand Rapids Con and I am looking into 2016 to see how I can make the most impact with my work. Streamlining things will be a major key. I will put a lot of feelers out and see what the possibilities are. I do want to try an erotica show, a horror show and a small press focused show. Just to see where the next step would be for me. Comic shows are great but too broad for me to make the impact I would like to make at it. So while I continue to carve out my corner of the nerd world, I intend to reach out to more sources to make new friends and fans of my stuff. So expect some new appearances along with some old ones from me next year.

I'm working hard to get STARSLAM 2 done in time for printing. It will not be done in time for the Kickstarter launch next week but its coming along. We will be shooting a video this week and getting it all set up to launch. The end is almost here! STARSLAM 2 is coming, finally! Hey, I'm not fucking around over here! (Just drawing people doing that!)

My thoughts are growing in anticipation to get to work on Pleasant Life 2 again. There are still a few things to flesh out as far as minor scenes here and there, but the meat of the piece is all in the script and first 40 pages I have drawn for it. It feels good to hang with the gang again.

Well, I got a long day of work staring at me. I best be getting ready to head in. Thanks for checking back!

Cheers, T

Big Bloggy Blogggggg

Hey friends! I just got off another set of four 16 hour days, and man am I tired! But I have been meaning to post here all week, so I got lots of stuff to talk about. Lets begin!!

1- My old college newspaper, CM LIFE, contacted me a couple weeks ago and did an interview with me. They used to cover my stuff back in the ol' college days, so it was nice to hear from them again and do a follow up with me! In it I discuss my various works and then talk a little bit about PLEASANT LIFE 2... the sequel I am working on and slated to be finished early 2016. To read the interview, click HERE - Thanks CM LIFE for talking with me again!

2-I still got two more convention appearances coming up in 2015, all in Michigan. One is on September 25th in Taylor, MI. Its called the MICHIGAN COMIC EXPO. A nice one day show that should be low key and fun. The other is GRAND RAPIDS COMIC CON taking place on Oct 16-18th. Both should be great times. More details on these shows in the coming weeks, but you heard it here first. After these, I should be done for the year.

3-STARSLAM 2 NEWS: Things are progressing on the book. I think I just crossed the 85th page mark on art. I just got done inking a big fight scene, so its really gonna be a happening. I wish I could share some pics (and I will) but at "press time" for this blog, I got nothing. But two potential covers have been drawn and I got pinups galore as well. So great progress is being made. In fact, for those that follow me on Facebook and Twitter got a treat this last week... I wrote and revealed the plot outline blurb for the sequel. Check it out:

Its my goal to have the Kickstarter launched for the book by October 15th, so I can advertise it at Grand Rapids Con. We shall see. But the book will be out no later than Dec/January. Then all efforts move on to...

4-PLEASANT LIFE 2 NEWS: No new pages yet, but the plan is to crank on it in between Starslam 2 pages and then go full speed ahead on finishing it by May of 2016, so I can have it ready for convention season. Its a great story and I can't wait for people to see it. I think this one has far more heart than the first books. You'll see!

5-SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2015 -- SDCC time is tough for me because I greatly desire to visit there again. In fact, I am driven to make a potential 2016 trip a major priority. But the news this year has been great. The trailers for Batman V. Superman, Suicide Squad and the Star Wars footage looks great. So as depressing as it is to not be there with my friends, I enjoy watching their fun they post about. I am gonna make it back next year, come hell or high waters. I love San Diego. Maybe it will be my treat for busting ass for a year and a half. A nice celebration of hard work and dedication to my work and getting things in order in my life. Seems fair, right? Let's make it happen.

6-2016 CONVENTION PLANS -- I finally got a final design done for my new convention table layout and pricing plans. New backdrops, risers, displays and new products! Its gonna take a lot of time to finish and some scratch to get it done. But I am confident that I will get it done in time. I'm excited about it. I keep staring at my sketches for it and I cannot wait to start on it. Its gonna look great. Like my stuff always should have been looking like at shows. Very professional and fun. I'd share pics but... spoilers! You'll have to find me on my 2016 tour to see it! Dates coming later on. Lets get through 2015 first! But just wanted you guys to know that I'm thinking ahead to what is to come.

7-SKETCH CARD NEWS: I'm working on a new Star Wars set that coincides with "The Force Awakens." I cannot show pics yet but I will soon. My last set I did for Topps is out and you can go get the cards on the shelves and aftermarket right now. Go to Ebay and do a search for my name to see them. Enjoy!

8-Lastly, I wanted to share some more recent pics and let you know that as much as I am working my ass off, I still get some time to see my boys. They came up earlier this week and I took them to the park. I got ate alive by the mosquitos, but it was worth it.

James and I sit and watch some cartoons and he digs on some Chocolate Milk!

Here's little James enjoying a bug ride.

Busy Bees!

While we were at the park, nature decided to come say hi!

In my efforts to eat healthier, I've been eating lots of this. Rice, Grilled Chicken, Peppers, Squash, Asparagus. YUM!

Lastly, here's a pic leftover from GRASP EXPO.

So yeah. Busy and fun times. I don't think I've ever been this busy and productive all at once. I've caught a wave for the last 5 months and I've never been more happy about it. Things are rolling into the new phase and I cannot wait to show you all what I'm doing. You're going to get sick hearing about me!

Anyway, thanks for checking back. I'll share Starslam 2 and Pleasant Life 2 pics soon!

Cheers, T