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

STAR WARS: The Force Awakens thoughts and other stuff.

Hello friends! I've had a hectic, busy as fuck week. Tons of hours at the day job and even a commission in the middle of it. I've barely had any time to breathe or spend time with myself. But I did manage to carve out two hours to go see THE FORCE AWAKENS! (And don't worry, I won't spoil it here) I will say that I enjoyed every minute of it. There was no eyerolling second of it. While I think some things here and there could have been improved on, but for the most part the flick did exactly what it needed to do. Its also got me very excited for Episode 8. I love the new characters, especially John Boyega's Finn. BB8 is cute as hell and I gotta get me one of those toys! There are many other things I'd love to talk about regarding the movie but I gotta let it sink in a bit and let the hype die down and go see it again sometime soon.

For me personally, this has been a thrill because of my very small, small, small involvement with the Star Wars universe on the TOPPS cards sets. Now I got a whole bunch of new characters, scenes and places to draw on them! I did some work on a Force Awakens set which came out but I haven't got to share yet. But below is some work I did on some sketches for them to prepare. Non-spoilery of course. Enjoy!

I can't wait til 2017 so we can see what happens next!

Things are ramping up for Christmas. I've already attended one Christmas party and I'm having one at my house for the kids on Christmas Eve. I'm already done with my shopping and I think things will roll quite smoothly on the day of. I plan to make a big glazed Ham with Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus and Chicken Dumplings with Rolls. Just typing that makes my mouth turn to an ocean. Gonna spin some holiday records and enjoy the day. My new tradition. Then the next week some dear friends are coming to help me ring in the new year.

There are lots of other things going on that I cannot talk about quite yet but it is a bit life altering. For the good for the most part, so no worries. And it gives me the opportunity to take of some things I need to take care of. Mentally as well as physically. There's a lot of stuff in the basement I have to deal with and get rid of. I will have time to focus on that, as well as working on my things. I want 2016 to be full of changes for myself. Its about time I focus on myself. I have goals that I keep bringing up every year and for whatever reason, it never fully comes to pass. But its getting to the point where it HAS to. And I am learning how to make these things a priority. I recognize their importance now and that it has to be done. Sorry to be vague. Its personal stuff and I will trudge through it.

However I do plan to stay active here and out and about in the convention world. Although more focus on Horror and Small Press shows than big pop culture ones. I am going to MSU Comics Forum again in February and Fantasticon Lansing in March. I also plan to pop into Horrorhound Cincinnati in March, and Motor City Nightmares in April/May. I'm looking ahead to what else I can do, but that is a bit of a ways off. Daily small steps are taken toward achieving my goals and that is the important thing.

I hope everyone here is having a great Holiday season and that they enjoyed the Star Wars movie. Its a great time to be alive isn't it?

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

New Starslam and Life!

Hey folks! Just a quick touch down to update on a few things. Starslam pages are flowing right along! Here is a sneak peek:

A new foe for the gang to tackle.

The talk before the big battle.

So I'm about at page 72 now. I'm a little more than halfway done with the art pages. Pages 1-69 are scanned into the computer and ready for coloring. I'm rolling things along in time to get the Kickstarter going for it by October. Fingers crossed. 

I'm also going to be busy on another Star Wars related card set. This one is a BIG one! You will definitely want to see what I got cooking this time around. Its time to get "awakened!" ;) Also I'm finally sitting down and enjoying CLONE WARS. Bout time, right? I got Star Wars fever!!

I'm working tons of hours, but luckily got to see my boys a couple days this week. They had fun too! 

Little James loves playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with daddy. But he hoards all the food balls!

The boys playing some old skool Mario Bros. Scotty can beat Level 1 all by himself now! He still has trouble jumping over some of the taller pipes, so I help out. But he's doing great. Hand to eye coordination will definitely help him with his learning skills I would think.

BTW, Scott-bot graduated Kindergarten and is moving on to First Grade! He's kicking autism's ass and I'm quite proud of how things are going. My oldest is entering his Sophomore year of high school. Damn where does the time go!?!? James starts pre-school next year. WOW!

This weekend we are visiting some family and on Sunday I am seeing RUSH in concert! You better believe I'll have pics and audio to share. Maybe some video if I feel like doing that. But I mostly want to take in the experience. It might be the last time they tour for various reasons. So I don't want to miss a second of it all.

Anyway, have a great weekend my friends. The work continues!

T

MAYHEM and STAR WARS VII (plus Cherry Con)

Hey folks! All the TALES OF SEQUENTIAL MAYHEM #3 books have been mailed out. Thanks for supporting our Kickstarter! I do have about a dozen personal copies available if you need one. Simply EMAIL ME HERE to order one. OR I will have them at this next weekend's CHERRY CAPITAL CON! See you there.

This newest Kickstarter really went well and after seeing and talking with other friends about their success at KS, I got more ideas to make the next one even better. So when we rock #4, it will be even larger! but for now, I am enjoying the fruits of the labor and a job well done and finished!

So GODZILLA is in the theater and I haven't seen it yet. I'm waiting for the crowds to die down a bit. I don't really dig seeing movies in the theater for various reasons. I guess I'm an old curmudgeon and can't deal with crowds. But I will see it, as I am dying to. Its about the only current thing on my radar.

However, I cannot help but be excited about STAR WARS VIII beginning filming. Not only are some of my old heroes coming back but it also means fresh blood, new toys, new cards to work on, and more. Plus now my kids get the thrill of seeing Star Wars on their terms now. The old sting and fights about the prequels and their dissapointment seem a dim memory. All I am left with is the excitement. I really don't want to build it up too much in my head, but I cannot help it. I keep checking out the toy aisles and considering rebuying lots of my 90's Star Wars toys to have them in the box. Also get the vehicles to play with the kids. I just want to be ready! Yeah, I'm in my late 30's but I am not checking in my kid gloves yet. In other words, the force is strong with me! Always.

Okay, I got a TON of things to get done before next weekend. This week is going to be a complete blur. Really looking forward to the Cherry Capital Comic Con and I hope ya'll can make it out. See ya there!

Cheers, T