Sleep, Interrupted

Hello friends.

It is the early morning. I've been up since 6am, dealing with a howling kitten. Hardly a kitten at a year old next month. She keeps meowing in the early mornings and we cannot figure out why. My poor girlfriend spent all night last night with her letting me get the three hours of sleep I could get before I had to get my kids in the a.m., so I took the bullet this morning for her. So it goes.

Reminds me of the days when my kids were just babies and I was on a rotation helping with sleep, sacrificing my own sleep to make sure things ran as smoothly as they could. I'm always happy to help others get what they need. But with my lack of sleep, I sometimes feel really out of it and overall, just dumb. I hope it stabilizes soon. 

Still, she sure is a cute kitty: (We decided ultimately to name her LILY (Munster) by the way....)

The kids seem to like her too. And she didn't run and hide from them yesterday either!

She even hangs out on my desk while I'm working, like other cats I've had. I've missed that.

Its these kind of mornings where I like to just brew a pot of coffee and get some writing done. I got so many projects going on that I just have no idea where they are and what I need next for them. I would like to kick one of these novels out first, but the art on comics I am doing seems to plague me. It feels like I have struggled to find a good rhythm all year on these things. Early in this year I was steady on it to finish Starslam 2 for the Kickstarter. But then I started on #3 and its been one day of work a month. Its no way to keep things going. The stories, scenes and characters keep playing in my head but my productivity to get it out onto paper beyond writing various notes and things in the margins of the script is my Sisyphus Rock. I even took a hiatus in the summer, and have been pulling the cord to restart the engine ever since.

I took a day off yesterday after the kids left. I caught up on some much needed sleep and then I watched Trainspotting for the first time in a long time. I guess I'm really stoked for the sequel. Then I watched the Eight Days a Week documentary, followed by some new South Parks. I've been re-reading old comics and Mad Magazines for a bit now. I placed an order on Amazon today for some used books. Some famous location scouting books, an indie novel publishing/formatting guide, a comic I think Kitty D will enjoy and a couple other things.

As if I need more books to read. I got about six of them in various stages of dissection and haven't picked them up in a while. Right now I'm reading "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron, two Neil Gaiman short story books, "Digging up Mother" by Doug Stanhope and a couple others.

On the TV Front I'm slowly trying to go through the new seasons of South Park, Eric Andre and Stranger Things. I keep stop-starting. I also got about twenty newer albums of music from bands I love to dissect. I haven't even touched them.

Would be nice if I could actually FINISH something, eh?

I guess I just never have time to devote to these things. Or maybe my mind is so cluttered that I cannot focus. I am working lots of hours at the day job now as we are into heavy overtime. I am constantly running here and there. I am hoping now that 2016 is dying down and that the election bullshit is over, I can find some mental stability to accomplish these things, professionally and entertainment-wise.

Something somehow seems to zap my attention span or overall interest in anything anymore. Most of the time it seems like I am just drifting through. Wake up, do some minor shit, go to work for 10 hours, go pick up Kitty D, come home and struggle to sleep. I just feel drained all the time. I don't know what I need. A vacation? A nice holiday? I'm not sure.

Over Thanksgiving week I have a couple days to myself. I am forcing myself to do nothing and just relax. I really need to. One of the days I am getting my kids for a couple hours, which is fine. But other than that, I really need to just get away from it all, including myself. How I do that in my own home, remains to be seen. I plan to just cook a huge ass Thanksgiving meal and eat leftovers for three days in an attempt to just shut myself in and relax. Okay, MAYBE I'll put the Xmas tree and decorations up! (You know I will...)

Well the kitty has quieted down and my eyes are glazing over again. Perhaps I'll attempt a mini nap on my new couch. Let's hope I can at least accomplish that!

--T

P.S. Here is some nice bit of therapy. Please take 25 minutes to watch this. Especially the end. Fuck 2016. 

Goddamn ABOUT TIME!

Hey friends!

This is the week where I finally turned it all around and became normal, or even better.. a NEW self again. New standards and habits. I'm speaking specifically about getting my goddamn page work back on track. I haven't been in a steady rhythm of doing comic page artwork in about 3 months now. Lots going on in my personal life and it just derailed me. But this week I sorta forced myself to just sit down and get to work. I work a gas station job from midnight-7/8am here in East Lansing. Our boss says that after our work is done, we can bring things to do. (sweet!) So I started bringing pages. Slowly but surely I got in a rhythm and now I'm up to a page or so a night when I'm working! I've been sharing the progress on my FACEBOOK PAGE if anyone wants to follow along, make with the "Add a Friend." This week I've been working on STARSLAM book #2 pages!!! Check out these pics here:

This is a new character in the book named "BEAR GIRL." She certainly has a journey in this story!

As you can see, the whole gang is back for a second round of fun!

Starslam, in her fighting glory!

A cool shot of Starslam doing some mid-air fighting over a cityscape. I dig the perspective on this one.

Also, I am finally able to get STARSLAM books out to my Kickstarter supporters! I've been signing books and I am waiting for the free mini-print to come back from the printer so I can stuff all the envelopes and mail them off! I have books going all over the USA, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, the UK and more! Thanks ALL!!!

Once I get the books out to the supporters, I will be throwing it up in the ONLINE STORE here for general sales. Sorry, just have been busy... personal and professional.

In personal news, things are improving greatly. I got my tax return and thats helping some minor things I needed to pay off and get done around here. My foot seems to be healing nicely. I've been walking with a limp for two weeks and I am quite tired of that... and popping 800mgs of Motrin a day to fight the pain! I have been spending a lot of time at my two part time jobs and then spending time with a certain someone who I haven't really talked a whole lot about yet. But I'll share news on that when its proper to do so. You guys know me, I'm like a damn open book. I tell everything and everything I can to you. Its the only way I know how to live my life.

Exciting things on the horizon! My buddy Dean Stahl got us tickets to see RUSH in June. So going to see them again and perhaps for the final time. We'll see. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd has a solo album due this year and beginning to organize a tour. Hoping he comes to the USA. If so, I MUST go to the show! I've been listening to a lot of jazz and Jeff Buckley lately. His album, GRACE, has been constantly spinning here at the home and at work. Necessary. I got Neil Gaiman's new short story book, TRIGGER WARNING, but have yet to be able to start it. Just been busy. No day off! I need the money though, so I don't complain too much about it.

Anyway, I guess thats all I have to tell you fine folks. Thanks for checking back in with me. Lets rock this weekend!

Cheers, T

Do it for YOU.

So yesterday, I saw the release of a movie trailer for Dumb and Dumber 2. I admit being a fan of the first flick. Of course, stacked up against some of my more favorite comedies of all time, it would take a back seat, but still it is in my top 20. I have affection for the movie and the experience I had watching it. Lately we've been getting a lot of old riders hopping back into their saddles for one last go around at it. People always seem to naysay it and then it comes and we enjoy it. Rocky Balboa (Rocky 6) was immensely enjoyable. As was Rambo 4. Sometimes we get an Indiana Jones 4, but I digress. Even though that movie is flawed, it still was nice to see Harrison back under the fedora again.

So I watch the trailer and it seems okay. I will likely see it and maybe enjoy myself for a bit. I checked in today and saw the loooooong line of people bashing the upcoming flick's existence and pouring buckets of searing hate on everyone involved with it, or who would potentially like it. This all comes from the internet.

My opinion: The world was better without the internet. For all the great things we can do now, it has brought an equal amount of bad. We are so angry and disconnected from each other that it scares me no end. Opinions stayed in your home and you didn't feel the hate of the world in your life everyday. Your problems and successes were your own and that was the end of it. It just seems that no one is stoked on anything anymore. Why does everyone NOT want you to enjoy the things you would enjoy? And why do people not want you do to what you want to do? Why is there so much hate? These are interesting questions to ponder. Did this come up recently because we're so disconnected and annonymous, or were we always like this?

Its no wonder that the future generations are starting to struggle with basic human skills, cyber bullying and they feel quite disconnected. Also I see a genuine lack of drive to be a good worker at a place of employment, and no drive to pursue a whimsy and a dream. Perhaps because the world and its hate has beaten them down so much that they are scared to be all they can be, like whatever they like and do what they want to do. You ever get the question of whats your "Guilty Pleasure?" Like your tastes should be hidden and you should feel guilty for liking it?

I say fuck that. Do what you like. Enjoy what you like. Pursue your dreams and do it for you.

This week I did an experiment. I just laid back a bit. I hit FB a little bit, but not as much as usual. I watched some Tom Baker Doctor Who episodes I kept putting off watching. I had never seen them before but never had time to do so. Well I made the time and I enjoyed them. You know what else? I read a book. I read "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman, my favorite author. I bought the book last year and it sat here doing nothing. I spent $25 on it and it just sat on a shelf, unread. But I picked it up and read it and loved every page of it. It felt good to dive into something new and at the same time, old. That old feeling where the wicked world was decades away and its just you and your mind. I loved that feeling. I want more. I am going to read other books I have sitting here.

I drank some booze with the wife last night. We talked deep about some things and we watched some music DVDs I have. They have sat in my closet collecting dust. I brushed them off and put them in the player and shared with her a bit of my world. It was delightful. She didn't judge me. She was stoked on the experience.

I chased a few whimsies this week. I applied for a job I never thought I had a chance to get and I got an email from them with an offer for an interview. It has me very excited. I saw a publisher is doing a collection of comics from a well known pop culture property that I happen to like and I tossed them a message offering a pinup. They liked the suggestion and said I should send them something. Both of these things might not happen. I might not get the job, I might not get in the book. But I bothered to ask. Sometimes you gotta just ask the universe for something and you might be surprised what you get back. It NEVER hurts to ask.

The great AMANDA FUCKING PALMER is coming out with a book in November about these things. And she printed out a manifesto statement about the book. I think it is fitting here:

"Asking is, at its core, a collaboration. Those who can ask without shame are viewing themselves in collaboration with - rather than in competition with - the world."

People who make art (in whatever form) mostly aren't asking to compete. They are asking to be a part of the big picture. They want to give back. And NO ONE should ever tell them no. Or make the snarky remarks. Just let the art come and if you like it, great. If its not for you, thats fine too. But let it come. Because the folks who made it made it for them. Sometimes there's a monetary goal, sure. Ya gotta eat and have a roof (or 10). But someone in the mix always is in there chasing the whimsy. Someone in there just wanted to make art. For them. And fuck the world if they try to stop them.

So I say folks: Find your dream and pursue it. Don't give a fuck about what they say. they. Who are they? Fuck em. Do your shit. Do it because you want to. Do it cause you can. Cause life is short. Live YOUR life. Find YOUR happiness. And ignore the world. Forget the hate. Play in your mind. Enjoy that book or that DVD or that record. Cause its for you. No one else.

Do it all for you. And get offline every now and then. Its good for you.
(but please... come back here once in a while!) ;)

T

Comics Mayhem!!!

Hey everyone! Well, our Kickstarter for our EC HORROR comics tribute "TALES OF SEQUENTIAL MAYHEM" was a sweet success! We got officially funded yesterday and then some. So I am putting the finishing touches on the files before they go to the printer today and tomorrow. Here's a look at a color version of a pinup of "ZOMBIE QUEEN" I did for the book. It appears as a fake ad for a drive in movie:

Zombies are lead by her boobs!

I've been pencilling new STARSLAM strips and I uploaded Chapter 5 to the site. So we're good until July. Its looking likely that I will get all the original art done before that too. So I am thinking by the fall time I will have a full book for that comic in the online store here. I've done too many book plugs this early part of the year so I don't want to drop that on you now. Besides, we got our SUPER ONLINE BOOK SALE going on right now. Don't want to get any of my books lost in the mix as we go along.

So this makes FOUR books published by me this year. With a FIFTH one promised around the fall. Eh? What cha think? Aren't we the hardest working indie comic people out there right now? :) Its all for me celebrating 20 years of doing this, this year. I love this life!

In non-pluggy type of news, I've been working my way through Band of Brothers and re-watching Game of Thrones with the wife. Almost done with the first show. Its quite good. I also have been moving around furniture and I am ready to get a big box and start tossing crap. The weather outside is hot and then cold here in Michigan, but I am forcing spring to hurry up via doing some hardcore cleaning and moving. I moved the living room and office around a bit. Hopefully the kids stay out of my books because they are now at a level where they can tamper with them. They are gonna hear a lot of "NOs" from me!

I've also been reading some of the comics I've bought recently and forgot I read or giving them a fair shake read on the toilet (as I often do). All New X-men, Batman, The Dirty Pair, Empowered, Invincible, 90's Prophet, Soul Saga and others. I also finally got my buddy Jay Fosgitt's Bodie Troll trade. I gotta make a list of the comics and trades I am missing. And I am trying to finish Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, but with all the work I am getting done, I don't have much time to sit and read a book like I did. Hopefully soon I'll get ahead of where I need to be and then I can slack off some more to read some new shit.

As far as vinyl, I haven't picked up too many new records. The most recent aquirements are Pearl Jam Vitology, Def Leppard's Pyromania and Saxon Denim and Leather. I did order White Zombie's Astro Creep 2000 and it should come in soon. Record Store Day is coming up and I got my eye on that Type O Negative record. I scored tickets to see Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden for the summer as well. Finally going to scratch those bands off my list.

I suppose thats enough updating for now. Be sure that you are keeping up with my PODCAST for additional news and talkingzzzz. Much love to you all!

T

Productive Weekend!

Just what I needed! I worked hard all weekend and marked a lot of things off my TO DO list. I love it when that happens. I did this too:

Those are some selected pages and panels from my new PLEASANT LIFE stuff I am doing for the upcoming complete collection tradebook. It will not be in color in the book itself but I decided to color it for online use. Plus, I've never seen these guys in color sequentially! So why the hell not, eh?

I hope these don't give too much away. Its a cute little mini-story for the book and a nice way to see the progression of my artwork with these characters from when they started back in 1995 up to now. Hopefully people will see the long way I have come over the years. I mean, take a look now! Here's page one of the comic in 1995:

*Note: Lucas' name used to be BUD. Don't ask.

Anyway, we're looking good so far! I got the art done and now I just need to put together all the extras pages and then PDF the whole thing. Maybe another week of work on it. Gonna try to see what all I can get rolling on it this week since I don't have much on my plate (at the moment). I want it all done in time for May when my con season starts. If all goes well, it will be!

Speaking of May, don't forget I got the CHERRY CAPITAL CON from May 23-25th. But before that, I just confirmed that I will be at CLEM'S COMICS in Downtown Lansing once again for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY (May 3rd). Then I'll probably hit a show sometime in the fall. Thats the plan so far anyway.

I should have my ARTBOOKS back from the printer early this week. So order now and get a free sketch inside!! As incentive I'm including original art printed in the book. Randomly selected from my archives, a nice way to say THANK YOU for the support. Order now by clicking the link I just posted or go to the store here at the site.

Also, our KICKSTARTER for TALES OF SEQUENTIAL MAYHEM is still rolling. (Click link to look at project and donate!) We're going strong and very happy with its progress. I am putting the book together this week as well so it will be printer ready by the time the Kickstarter ends. Dig it! We thank you for the support.

In non pluggy news, I have started watching CLONE WARS on Netflix. I quite like it. I'm also keeping up with episodes of THAT METAL SHOW, TOY HUNTER and WALKING DEAD. All fun passtimes for me. I am also deep into reading Neil Gaiman's OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE. I've put this one off for too long. Other than that, I am addicted to watching house shows on HGTV. Really jazzing for a nice dream house of my own. Perhaps I am feeling all spring cleany too, cause I just gutted the hell out of my kitchen and moved things around. Maybe wishing the weather stays nice so I can enjoy a spring cleaning around here. We desperately need it!

Okay, thats enough from me. Thanks for checking in and have a great week my droogies!

T