Diary of a busy week

8-1-12

I wake up at 9:20 to the bots kicking the door. For some reason I am dreaming of seeing a Maria Bamford stand up in person. And then all day I keep encountering her online or in conversation not initiated by me at all!! Weird! She's STALKING MEEEEEE!!!! Anyway, I check online stuff, feed the varmits and do little odds and ends on the house. I check with Eric Adams and he’s down to podcast tomorrow night so we set that up. I edit an old appearance of his on my old show and upload it to talkshoe and announce everything. Then work on updating blog and removing a few new videos from my camera to edit for youtube later in the week.

The wife comes home and we head to the loan place and then Culvers for lunch. Then to Walmart for a few bots related items. We get back and I struggle to get started on some art. Meanwhile I just check online shit for most of the time. Finally I get to sketchin’ ideas for the MAYHEM one shot coming in October that I better get a move on! Finally by 11:30, I got the story I want to do thumbnailed out and a few ideas for “fake movie ads” that will appear in the book. The wife and kid head to bed and I watch ARTHUR on Netflix while drawing. Then pass out to Twilight Zone.

8-2-12

Bots wakes me up at 9:20 (why always 9:20 on the nose?!?!?!?) and I check email and catch up on songpop. I do some more sketching and inking and start pages on my horror comic thing that needs to be done by Halloween. I watch Poultrygeist on Netflix while doing so. Not that great really. I prefer Tromeo & Juliet and the Toxie movies. After that I watch Class of Nuke Em High (its been abut ten years since I’d seen it last). Then suddenly as I am downloading a new podcast to listen to, my computer freezes up hardcore. So I reboot and it ain’t coming back. Instantly I am heartbroken, as its been a few months since I backed up my stuff and I felt that the hard drive was going again on it. I rebooted and rebooted several different ways before the wife got home and she was getting annoyed by me and my worry over my beloved machine.

We took a break and headed to drop off my loan check and to Mcds drive thru for food. I get back home and keep trying different disc utilities and safe mode reboots in an effort to get my machine going again. Thankfully around 7:30, it boots up and acts sort of sluggish. I immediately pull all my important files onto a flash drive and run a virus check on it. No virus. Then it starts to act more normal, but still sluggish. It possibly still could go on me, so I gotta get a backup drive ASAP. Hopefully (again) some of my freelance checks start arriving. We head back out to get the wife a hand brace to aid her hand from falling asleep at night: A source of constant annoyance for her and a result of her pregnancy.

At 9pm, I do an awesome idiothead.com podcast with Eric Adams (lacklusterworld.com) where we talk San Diego and then 2013 and forward plans for both of us. Lots of webcomics talk and then I ask for advice about my con table and items I offer. He gives great advice and I appreciate it! We end and I head to Taco Bell for the wife while concluding the show. I get back and they hit the bed. I stay up inking on a TALES OF SEQUENTIAL MAYHEM page for my 8 page short story for the book. Mark Walters, JJ Torres and I join up and do a bigfanboy podcast that lasts till 2am, and we chit chat till around 3am, when I retire and hit the hay. Such a loooong and stressful day!

8-3-12

I get up at 9:38 (wow! An additional 18 minutes of sleep!) and check online shit. Computer seems to be running more “normal” today, but I am still weary of the ol’ gal. If it went on me, I’d have no idea how to get it going again. Especially financially. Yikes! The wife wakes up at 11am and we head to Kroger for some usual staples for the house. We get back and she heads to work while I play some rounds of Songpop. I attempt a nap on the couch which doesn’t take. Then I get up and check mail where I find six cards I am doing for a March of Dimes charity. I get to work on those during the day while jamming to music and podcasts like normal. I get pencils and some inks done and sit on them for the rest of the day. I work on some pencils for the TALES horror short story and then play with bots for the rest of the day. He has a hard time wanting to go to bed, so I sit with him and watch Twilight Zone episodes til the wife gets home and takes over for me. Finally he goes to bed and I watch the newest BREAKING BAD on On Demand. Then hit the hay watching more Twilight Zones.

8-4-12

I get up at 9:20 (great, back to that?) and get bots up. I check online shit and start inking on the TALES page I was working on the previous day. Bots is mostly cute and cooperative during the day. The wife heads to work and I get a letter from Ted. I compose one back to him and catch up on some rounds of SongPop. Then I clean the hell out of our bedroom and bedroom closet. Sorely needed! I don’t know what got me on the kick but I start watching Henry Rollins spoken word concerts on Youtube and I end up watching 3-4 concerts in one night! During down time I make a cool Anna 2 logo and put it out on the net, announcing that I am releasing the book in early 2013. Its quite the possibility now because of all the workload I got now, and I don’t want to rush it. The wife comes home and takes over for bots duty. He passes out in our bed and I transfer him over. I start on another Rollins concert but then pass out.

8-5-12

Bots gets up at 10:18 and so do I. We let the wife sleep in till 11:30 til I get dressed and head to Disc Traders to sell off some stuff I don’t need. We get some scratch and treat the kid to some Mcds where he gets a new Spongebob toy. We start to head to Okomos for the Best Buy there but decide that time is too short before the wife has to head to work (her last shift for a week! Which is a good thing cause she’s stressing and I could use the mornings to catch up on artwork!) Then we head to Best Buy in West Lansing where I use my $10 gift card I’ve been sitting on to get bots a new Olivia disc. Then I go to B&N and score the new Horrorhound Magazine (A must buy. The best magazine ever!) I get some more Rollins stand up and start listening to that all day while penciling new pages on TALES. I really gotta push that thing out before the end of this month.

The wife discusses the possibility of moving to a different two bedroom apartment that has a washer/dryer. I am completely against the idea as I’ve moved 5 times in the last 5 years and tired of it. Plus the cash we’d have to front, we just don’t have it right now. She’s bummed I know, but I just want to ride out what we got for now. One day we’ll move into the dream place we want. The wife heads to work and I am on art duty. I work on a page on the charity cards until taking a long break and playing with the kid. I go to put him to bed and mom comes home and takes over. I watch some Twilight Zones and we all fall asleep.

8-6-12

I wake up at 10:10 and get the bots up. The wife gets up and we head to the pawn shop to sell some stuff to make some quick cash. She finds out that some of the rings she owns is not real steel, but very fake and she’s quite mad at the concept. I get the bots a fry and we run to Target for some quick groceries (we got a gift card there) and head to the bank. Some of the cash we acquired has to go to cover my website being taken out of my business account, which I completely forgot about happening. So we are back to square one. We head home and I do some art on TALES pages. Then I am feeling sorta down and tired so I take a 2.5 hour nap while the family hang in the same room enjoying the better air conditioner.

Around 6:30 I wake up and the wife attempts a nap and it doesn’t take. I pencil some more on TALES pages and get to inking. After bath time, its time to get the bots to bed. The wife works on that while I watch a documentary on George Foreman on Netflix. Then some SNL from the 90s. The wife gets the kid to sleep and I lay down watching two Twilight Zones. I attempt sleep but my stomach hurts. I get back up for a bit and watch another SNL from the 90s. Finally around 2am, I pass out.

8-7-12

The bots kicks the door around 9:18 and I get up and check email. Mike Pascale has sent over sketches of our proposed “horror host” for the TALES book. I send back some thoughts and my choice for who we should use. He also tosses me some freelance gig leads, which I completely appreciate! The wife gets up and we hang out at the house most of the day. I attempt a nap which doesn’t take. Eventually, I get dressed and head into work. I have a surprisingly fun and upbeat shift for the night. I text with my pal Ted during the shift who is freaking out a bit on a few things, but I talk him down I think. I get home around 2:30am and stay up reading comics till about 3:20 and then I pass out.

8-8-12

I get up around 9:20 with the bots. Check email. The wife gets home from a doctor’s appointment and we gather some DVDs and take them in for scratch cash. We treat the bots to Mcds and then take some old bread to feed the ducks at the water park. We get back home and I edit a video of bots doing random stuff. I’m laughing at it and enjoying myself. My dad calls and tells me that my uncle Richard died in his sleep last night and instantly I am saddened. I call my brother Tony and we talk for a bit. I gather my thoughts and decide to blog about my memories of my beloved uncle. After a time, I get ready and head into work, picking up my co-worker in the process. We get to work and its uneventful. The whole time I cannot get my uncle’s passing out of my mind. I get home around 2:30 after closing and I sit and listen to THE EAGLES (his favorite band) while checking online shit. After a couple hours I realize I am looking up info on ridiculous stuff on wiki and I know then its time to hit the bed, and I pass out around 4:20am.

8-9-12

I wake up at 9:15 with bots and lay on the couch watching cartoons with the kid. I’m in and out of sleep, dead tired from my late night. The wife wakes up around 11am and we head to Family Fare in Grand Ledge for groceries. We stop off at Mcds for bots lunch. Then we get back home and I color the March of Dimes charity cards, as well as do three quick pinup sketches for a fan of my work who sent me a request through the mail. Nice to do.

I listen to the newest Joe Rogan podcast while doing all this and then start penciling another TALES page. Finally around 6:30, I get up and head to work for my 7pm-4am shift. Its quite uneventful and I head back home. I pass out to AVGN around 4:45am.

8-10-12

I wake up at noon to the wife urging me awake. I’m pretty sore and tonight is my last late night for the week. Looking forward to being free! I play with the family for a bit and get my payment for a card set I did a couple months back. YAY!!!!!! Just three days till its in my account from Paypal. Much needed! I cook tacos for everyone and basically take it easy for the day.  The wife naps from 4-6:30 and then I take off for work. I work a 7-4am shift and get back home, pass out to AVGN.