where have i been?
lots of places except in front of my computer long enough to post here. after staring at the monitor all day at work, it seemed like such a chore to jsut check my e-mail. i'm trying to catch up in it and with my webcomic reading (which i do exclusivly at home now. 8^P)

part of the problem is the slow dial up service i have at home. ick.
i'm going to limit my webcomics for now, i can always come back and read someone's archives to get caught up.
i just got a 17" monitor for christmas so my comic's site will be redesigned, and then i'll try to keep up with my e-mail and the blogs more. i may be posting only once a week. dang, posting when i had a spare moment at work made things so much easier. >8^( oh, well. and i gotta work in time to draw my comic. ug.
emily has graduated and moved out. it's just jo and me, now.

in other news, i got rear-ended by a tow truck back on 11-25-02. i just got my car back from the auto body shop last week, though ken thinks they could've done a better job of it. i had a mile case of neck sprain, but toherwise i'm ok. just been bogged down with work and the holidays.
ken has finally stopped posting charater sketches and officially started in shining armor. it looks good. 8^)
and i'm planning my new site design and trying to get started back on my comic and decide what to do for my two pages with the next keenspace book. keenspace has yet again moved their servers. i noticed the keenalert was messed up onmy page. poor tim. his site has completely vanished. 8^(
i'm almost afriad to update my comic. we'll see though. however, when i'm not at work or with ken, i'm going to try to get that web design complete.
ok, enough blabbing for now.

catwalk
my roomie emily has such a fashion sense. like the apron pants she was wearing one day. o.0
but sometimes she needs reassurance that the outfit looks ok, especially after she gets something new. i'm almost the same way. lol
it was cute, she tried on 3 different outfits and asked my opinion.
all of the sudden i'm a fashion expert. me, who's favorite outfit consists of jeans and t-shirt. *shrugs*

the halloween comic for the nice is coming along. hopefully i'll be done tomorrow. 8^)
then i just need to finish the color for the already way to late comic for blue canary and do that drawing for cindy, smeffysnark's prize drawing and adam's tattoo design. in that order.
that's right folks, someone actually wants ferdinand on a tattoo. 8^)
i'd try to stay up late and get that halloween comic complete but i do have work in the morning and that meeting starts at 9am. that is when i usually get there, so i need to be early tomorrow and all dolled up. 8^(P

lots o' meetings at work this week. some far they are going ok, i just need to take better notes and remember what tasks i've been given. if i do that, i should be fine.

back to coloring...

uh-oh.
well, i got an e-mail at work on monday that basically said, "get off the internet and get to work. it's for work purposes only and you're reading too many webcomics." ;.;
so i may not be writing in here much now.

i'm also very late with a comic. ;.; but the halloween comic i'm doing with the nice is due soon, so i've got to get that comic done first then i'll post my late comic the week after.

ok so i've got to draw like a madwoman now...
later.

staying with in the lines
still coloring the comic. 0.o boy, all that coloring in elementary school is paying off. 8^)P
it's taking longer than i thought.
sometimes it feels like a chore. i can't let myself stop though. i'm afraid if i do, i won't start it up again.
that would be a terrible diservice to my characters. they feel more alive than previous ones i created early on in college.
i just gotta keep at it.

i took ken to meet some of the family last night. uncle bob and aunt joy came in from west virginia and since we hardly get to see them, it was time to get the sibling together and have some food. the get-together was at my uncle frank's. my bro and myself were the only "kids" there. but it was good to see aunt willie, uncle danny and aunt doris and uncle frank and aunt glenda.
aunt glenda put together some good speghetti with homemade sauce. *yum*
and they liked ken! 8^) that's always good.

the nice is putting together little halloween comics.
cartoonists are split into groups of 4. one writes the script and all draw it.
that would be about the work of 1 color strip and 1 black and white one for the page i'm doing for it.
it should be cool though. i'm getting to work with jason furness, ian mcdonald and mark mekkes with this. it's going to be a good story. 8^)
so, since it'll take alot of drawing, expect no comic from me until halloween. except for the one i'm coloring right now.

when jo got home, she showed me the sca scrolls she had made. the one i was suposed to work on but didn't get the time...it looked lovely. 8^) plus, she brought home lots of scrolls that need to be painted for samhain/ork wars over at grey niche for next weekend. i'll try to paint some of those this week. and maybe jo and i can make another one, this time i'll actually help. lol

oy! where does the time go?

catching up
well, the comic is almost finished. i'm coloring it tonight. i asked tim if the color made up for it's being 2 weeks and a day late. he thougtht so. 8^)

art class at ms. nanci's went well. the entire place has the smell of turpentine, it's a relaxing smell to me. very comforting. also, nanci's the most nuturing art instructor i've known. i never feel stifiled or held back. maybe next time i can try painting. i'm starting to want to try it again.

things at work have been crazy. apparently steve isn't too happy about my output so i had to step it up this week. i just faxed 4 proof this morning to him and to terry.
i did hear from terry on the redesign. she likes it so far, which is good. but she mentioned that steve had just left town to see about another store fixing to open. oy. 0.o talk about hurry up and wait.

the scanner is still acting up. ug.
but terry thougth i could get the clip art for the ads on cd. if i could get that, it would help greatly.

i had fun at crown list during the weekend, even if our tent did leak. i'll elaborate on that in another post. jocelyn got her AoA (Award of Arms.) she's "Lady" Beatrice now.
hee 8^)

i'm in the middle of a late lunch, so back to my burger.

stupid scanner
relax, the comic will be completed on thursday.

no, this is my scanner at work. a hand-me-down from the boss. it's only a couple years old. *bleh*
why didn't you get me a new scanner when i started like i requested? scanners don't cost that much unless you're looking to get a negative scanner, a professional drum scanner or an 11x17 scanner, (ken can argue about that last one though. he found one on clearance for a nice price.)

this stupid hp i have only works half the time. i hate hp scanners. the program that scans is awful! they should stick to printers.
if it doesn't work today, i'm gonna e-mail jeremy and see if he can ask steve for a better scanner.
right after jeremy gets to feeling better from being sick.

drawing
well, jo and i went to see our roomate perform in The Fantasticks last night, (she did so good!) i had no idea it would last so long. no drawing of the comic for the kit. and i was in a drawing mood, too! >8^(
why? because i found shane glines' drawing board forum and from this thread, this drawing resulted:

it irratated me to no end that i couldn't get the image to show on the board, i had to post an outside link. bah!
but, i haven't felt this good about a drawing in quite some time. i love how it turned out. true, i need to work on the hand on her hip and some of the shadows and feet, amoung other things, but on the whole not bad. i altered the image from it's original fashion model type to a sneak peak of the main vampire villianess for blue canary. enjoy the sneak peak.
i'll try to finish drawing the comic this weekend. maybe it'll be posted on sunday or monday.
i may be turning this into more of a drawing/oekaki blog. *shrugs*

oekaki

it's that bald chick from the first star trek movie. why did i draw her? *shrugs* ya got me. i dunno.
and here's some previous oekaki examples:

what's goin' on?
i got the sketches to cindy on friday, so far i haven't heard back form her, so i don't know if that design got approved or what. she'll let me know i suppose.

i spent this weekend at ken's. had fun, ate too much fatty frozen pizzas and played way to many video games. 8^)
yeah, i should've worked on my comic, but something wasn't there. drive? the muse? i dunno, but it lacked something.
after this weekend though, i am glad that i don't have a playstation 2 at home. if i did, i'd never get a comic done! 6^)
"why?" you ask.
well for two reasons.
1.) final fantasy X. i still haven't finsihed it, but then since i only get to play it when ken's on call, that's understandable.
2.) ken bought me kingdom hearts. 8^D so far i'm liking the game.

ken found a playstation verison of the arcade game, gauntlet. four people can play but there was only the two of us and he only had one controller. he's so sweet, he went and bought another one so we both could play.

well, the big event is this weekend, by that i mean it's crown list time for meridies and if you read this often, you'll know that my incipenet shire is the host of the event, the 25th anniversary of the kingdom and the 50th crown list. lots of work to do. poor jo is sewing like a madwoman. our dresses for court/feast will look different that we originally intended but knowing jo, they will look just as good. i'm helping serve and assisting dee with the table decorations, (they're not subtleties! they're blantancies!)
but a complication has arose this morning when my mom called wanting to come home for a weekend and looking for a bed. i dont' mind her being there, it's just that i'm not going to get to see her. i'll ask jo what she things. we may offer to let her stay there regardless. i dunno. emily supposed to have company this weekend, too and they might need my bed. hmmmm.

i think right now though, i'm going to concentrate on work.

munny
well, i got an upgrade for my blog so i can post images last month.
i noticed on my bank statement last week that i got charged for hosting, twice. ouch
i think i know why. the computer i was on gave me the old "page not available" screen and like a ninny i hit refresh. 9.9
i e-mailed them about this last week but have heard no response. i tried again via their help forums. i hope this works.
i'd like refund but i'm open for other options...we'll see.
i got an e-mail from my brother yesterday about recieveing a couple of bank statements. one's gotta be for my savings account, but the other? i hope it's not an overdrawn notice.

graphics
i got a message from the boss at my old internship. i've got a cartoon for a t-shirt design. it should be great fun. 8^) i'm glad i'm getting to work with her again. i felt that i coped out on the last project she gave me. i need to get her a good sketch my tomorrow. my comic may wait another day.

dinner at dad's tonight. taco soup. yum! jo is invited, too!
she and i had a nice lunch at kirin today. they do cool custom stir-frys like at the flatop grill in chicago. yummy! next time i'm in there, i'm gettting one

last night i went to nanci's art class. joy! i had fun. i had no idea until i got there how much i missed the smell of paint and turpentine. i tried ot work on blue canary some, and while i was able to sketch a layout of the next strip and start the penciling, my creative spirit wanted to do something fun. i did a litte illustartive style sketch with pencil and markers. it was fun.

nanci noticed my new moonstone beaded necklace. she suggested that i make lots of jewelry and sell them at local festivals. get a booth, said it would be $10-20 and sell my work. i may do that one day. we'll see.

now, i'm just waiting for go home time.

road trip
i borrowed ken's laptop and gps for the drive to and from texarkana. armed with it and directions on how to navigate little rock from sandy, my trip was a breeze and the gps served as an electronic security blanket boosting my confidence as i drove. i'm proud of myself for driving that far and back again. very tired and exhausted but proud.

i arrived around 3:40pm and had no troulbe checking in and finding my room and unpacking. i call the 'rents and ken letting them know that i arrived safely.
then i got bored and hungry. thank god for ken's gps. i found a chili's next to a micheal's and a book-a-million. i got a book to read so my eyes would have somethign to look at during dinner. i didn't go into micheal's like i wanted. i decided i didn't need to spend the money on more art supplies when i have plenty of them already.

i got alittle turned around on the way back to the hotel, but i made it.

the night before, ken and i downloaded an atari 2600 emulater and loads of games. i organized them into where they were supposed to go to run on the emulator and then sat back and played a little. some games like combat and breakout i could figure out how to start. and sometimes, the joysticks and paddles controlers and better than the keyboard. they just make the game ya know...
ken found his old atari 2600 in the attic. he needs some controllers but i believe the games are already in osceloa just waiting to be palyed. yay!

well, i guess the batteries ken got me were bad, because even though i stuck in fresh batteries in the gps unit, it refused to connect to the satellites. uh-oh. i needed to get to work that morning on time. well, the prs program at least showed a map of were to go, but didn't log my progress. dang, that street broke into two one ways! oy!
but i made it right on time and the meeting went well. ads will get a slight redesign, i'm will get more marketing and advertising duties. like being the head of it. 0.o
i have 30 days to learn some morea nd get some ads redone. wish me luck!

the drive home was long, but uneventful. ken called to track my progress and jo had dinner ready when i got home. thank god for roommates and friends that cook. 8^)
i now have some extra hours on the clock due to my trip. i slept in an extra hour this morning. >8^D hee!

now, i need to find some more info on marketing...

inventory
my day started later than it should've. i woke around 8 am. i was supposed to be at work at 6 am. my alarm didn't go off. i remember setting it last night.
they tried calling me but only had the phone number for dad's. needless to say, i wasn't at home.

i was angry and spiteful at myself. they had reminded me several times during this week that i would need to be there at 6 and i reassured them that i would. i felt like a liar.
luckily, you don't have to look fancy for inventory, just put on some clothes that you don't mind getting dirty and start counting. so i just threw on some clothes, put my hair up in a clippie and went to work. i arrive 5 minutes before the morning break. i didn't take it, prefering to work through it after arriving so late.

i did all that could to work. near lunch i had finished keying in what i had to key in. now it was time to eat and wait for recounts.

i just got through with those. luckily, harry and tracey helped me make sense of the sheets and i came away with better knowledge of the warehouse and would feel better doing it next time.

now, i'm just looking forward to going home, taking a shower and resting. 8^)

post-it note murals

there are no windows in my office and i'm not allowed to put up poster or even my framed diploma!
so i make art installions out of colored post-it notes to keep from going insane...
this is only the third one i've done. i like it!
i only finished it this afternoon.

early
i have to be at work tomorrow at 6 am for inventory.
but you're a graphic designer! why do you have to count stuff in the warehouse?
because the big bosses told me to! that's why.
i'm not looking forward to this. i hate recounts, since it's hard for me to find stuff.
however, they are going to feed us so, that's good.
6 am. ick.

arguing with pen and ink
i argued with my comic last night. it just wouldn't draw right...
put i do have some if it looking the way i want. i'll finish tonight after work.

packages in the mail!
yay! my beads came in!
and i got the last book i ordered in the mail. more stuff to read!
also i got my cbldf membership card!
eeeee! 8^D

yikes
um, i just realized that while i have an idea where the story is going in blue canary, i have no idea what i'm doing to next week's comic.
oh, boy. o.O

the fair
saturday, ken and i met up with ken's friend, bill, and his wife, joy, and we went to the midsouth fair. it had just opened on friday. 8^)
the cool thing about this fair, besides it's huge size, is that the theme park, libertyland, is connected and admittance to the park is free when you enter the fair.
that doubles the rides. counting the ones in libertyland, there were 3 tilt-a-whirls and 2 scramblers/sizzlers.

traffic was awful do to U of M football game at the nearby liberty bowl 8^P
ken and i went around the block for over thirty minutes. he's mentioned that is was the worst parking situation he'd seen and he's lived in chicago for a year! 0.o finally we got lucky and found a spot on someone lawn near one of the entrances for $10.
these people near the fairgrounds make a killing charging you to park on their lawns. you can tell they've been doing it for awhile by the expert way they guide you on their lawn.
"little further, little further. ok, go the right. woah."
by that time ken was happy to pay $10. at first he thought it was too high. lol but driving around that congested block sure changed his mind quick!

we met joy and her mother at the entrance and wait for bill. joy's mom eventually went off on her own. where to, i don't know. i didn't see her again that night.
it was almost an hour later before we saw bill. both he and ken commiserated about the traffic and we went to hit the rides.

first, we went to see libertyland's newest, the rebellion. basically it took you up real high and dropped you real fast. if was fun, but not a ride i'd want to do over and over and over. afterward we hit the twister which was over too quickly. 8^(
then the boys saw it. the crazy ride that they rode the last time, the power surge. joy and i wouldn't ride it last time and wouldn't ride it this time. it was funny watching ken give me the "bat your eyes and pout" face while he tried to get me to ride it. it wasn't working. then we did the orbiter which is like a scrambler on in incline. ken said it got to his stomach more than the power surge. go figure! then it was the huge farris wheel, a classic. can't go to the fair and not ride either the carrosel or the farris wheel. then we found another crazy ride that ken was actually able to convince me to go on, the fire bolt. imagine the huge pirate ship ride, only on the end instead of a ship is a circle of seats that around. now imagine it doing that and the motion of the pirate ship ride and you have the fire bolt. it was fun, but a learned that i'm not as found of the sensation of falling out of my seat as i used to be. man, i'm getting old!

after the rides, the smell of the fair food got to us. roasted corn on the cob, steak gyros, ice cream and get this, deep fried candy bars.
we tried one out of curiousity. not bad, but i don't think i'll be eating another one soon. talk about heart attack city! o.0
we saw the exhibits and then had to head home. i think it was the happiest i've seen ken in some time. i'm glad we could go.

sunday was slow, reading while ken worked on a huge project. i hope he does well on it.

time said his keen_ account is now active. i wonder if ken's new one for monday the 13th is, too.

new blogs
i now have a blog for posting links to cool and funky websites called linkiedinks
and a blog for cataloging my passion for books called binge reading. enjoy!

art lessons
well, i decided after work to drop by ms. nanci's art class last night after work and speak with her about lessons.
i'm so glad i did.

i arrived on a fortious night, right in the middle of an adult art class.
the lesson are about $14 a lesson or $55 a month with supplies included. the lessons are whatever you want. painting, sculpture, drawing.
i need to focus on drawing and anatomy, nanci agreed with me that asu's one weakness is that the drawing and painting course lack an anatomy basis.
she also said that being a little lost for a year after graduating was normal. 8^) that is a relief.
"you should paint." she told me. and i think i shall.

i'll try to begin the lessons in october. since they are on wednesday's, i may have to move the day the comic updates again, but oh to be back in art class!
the smell of the turpentine and in an encourgaing atmosphere where i'll want to undertake creative endeavors and possibly work on my comic. i think being back in a structured enviornment will help be knuckle down and work on my comic. 8^)
yay! art lessons!

another meeting
i've been informed of yet another out of town meeting. this time on Oct. 1. it looks like i'll be traveling down to texarkana solo this time.
eeep! 0.0 i've driven driven this far before, much less on high interstates through little rock! sure, i've been a passenger on several 8 hour or longer road trips, butthis time it's me, i'm the one driving. it takes awhile for me to get comfortable driving to new locations since i don't know what i'm doing exactly. it's easy to second guess myself on directions and get all messed up. i'll get detailed instructions from sandy and off the internet, that will help. i think i'll also call mom and see what she recommends for long drives.

superficial stuff that could keep me from being bored like cd's will be taken.
let's see, what else do i need...
*make sure they remember to reserve my hotel room.
*pack! and don't forget anything!
*directions to texarkana, then to my hotel, then to the meeting and then back home will be needed.
*lots of gas money! guess i better ask dad for some dough.
*reset trip counter so i can get my mileage down and don't forget about restaurant receipts!
*advertising stuff that i will need for the meeting.

tomorrow, sandy and i are headed to the tobacco store in blytheville and maybe to the one in trumann so i can geta feel of the store better. the more i know, the easier it is for me to do the ads.

i didn't get to mention that on tuesday night, i started and finished Coraline. creepy book. 8^)

goals
as many of these as possible must be accomplished by 9-20-02
* learn how to use that offset printer!
* get blue canary updating twice a week.
* redesign blue canary site.
* design site for spirit world and start it as a weekly comic.
* finish the design for this blog.
* complete a 24 hour comic.

keenprime
well, keen has finally unleashed it. you have to pay to host the comic for a faster server but it would be worth it.
ken thinks i ought to wait, become really good about my update and then go to twice a week. very sensible advice and i agree with it.
however, i know me. i've been consistantly late with my comic. and what makes me think i'll draw two during a week? c'mon. i'm a slacker! i'm lazy!
i want so much to knuckle down and get to work on it, but procrastination has taken it's toll on me.
i got into a habit of wokring on things really close to deadline all through college. heck, it's affecting me at work even!
so how do i do it? how do i overcome the procrastination and get to work. just telling myself to do it isn't that simple. i can think of thousands of excuses. i wonder if i should dig out the artist's way book again and go through the exercises again.

ms. nanci, who i took art lessons from back in high school, is teaching again. i need to call her again for a quote on adult art classes. she says she lets them do whatever they want. i could focus on drawing skills and working on my comic. that would be cool. but that would cost money. i'm a little tight for cash this month. between, rent, the car payment, student loan payment, not too mention getting the fabric and beads for the sca event in october, (some of the beads are just for fun though. ok alot of them,) and my recent book binge, i don't have much funds. maybe i can get dad to pay for it...
we'll see.

sketching
i found this site thanks to a post on the ecartoonists list.
online anatomy for 3-d artists.
so i'm not a 3-d artist, but they come in handy for 2-d art. 8^)
i did a nice sketch.
30 minutes and i'm home! yay!

oooo!
brush pens!
i want!

i read alot this weekend.
i started ender's game on friday after work. stayed up until 2 am finishing it.
i tried ot put it down long enough to visit c, but the book's grip on me was too strong!
saturday, i woke up and make a cake for jo. it was ok, i thought it was too dry and could've used more sugar, but as long as jo liked it, i'm happy.
her parents, granmary, scott, ken, myself and emily were there for desert and presents. it was fun. after the festivities, jo, scott, ken and i rented kung pow: enter the fist. bizarre and twisted is all i gotta say. well, besides, "whee-ooo-whee-ooo!"
sunday, i woke up around 9:30, picked up the memory of earth and didn't finish until around 4pm. only then did i shower and go see ken.
i feel a little guilty taking up so much of my weekend reading when i could've seen more of him.

now i have to think up this week's comic and finish these blasted ads!

binge reading
i go through periods where i will just thirst for books. i'm now in one of those periods.
i've always been an avid reader, but when i go though my book binge, i read more than i normally do!
it all starts with a little trip to the bookstore...
today at lunch i went by the bookstore and picked up 3 books:
Ender's Game and The Memory of Earth by Orson Scott Card
Coraline by Neil Gaiman.
before this, i ordered 5 more books from amazon! o.O
did i mention that i love books? 8^)

i visited the oekaki board again. great fun.
i directed ken to it last night. he drew a pretty good pic of gunther.

progress is slow but sure on the ads this month.
i'm just glad i have buydown signage to work on next. that's not so bad.

i get to see ken today! 8^D can't wait.

doodles!
i found an oekaki board! 8^) mine's the pic of odile.
this board is attached to a cool art site called, tourniquet.
wish i could draw like that. go check it out.

i guess i couldn't draw enough today. i doodled and chatted with jo on yahoo. i do like their "doodle enviornment."
it's worth it alone for that.

bah! more ads at work. and by the time they decide to do anything or make corrections, it's past deadline. >8^(

now to home and to work on sca scrolls with jo.

the comic? what comic?
oh, that comic. heh heh.
i'm working on it. should be ready tonight. hopefully.

and i'm a cartoon!
what you you mean you already know that?
thanks, bry!

busy day at work. but at least i got stuff accomplished. yay!
this day just flew by. before i knew it, it was 3 o' clock and i haven't even eaten yet. 0.o

jo and emily did mucho cooking last night.
chili, and quiche and sweet potato pie and cookies! yummy.
so i now have lots o' food to bring to lunch.
too bad i can never find containers with lids for them.
i think i'll break down and buy some for the house when i get paid.

i think if i get the next comic done on time, i'll go to dad's on thursday night and sort through the stuff in my old room so i can have stuff for that yard sale. i don't know when it'll be now, but at least i'll be ready. also i've been looking through a bead catalog. i like to make crafty-like things from time to time. right now, i'm thinking of making my own jewelry. i've done it before and i can do it again, but i'm going to order mucho beads. then i have enough to make some for friends birthdays, christmas, etc.
maybe i might be able to sell them on ebay...*shrugs*

i need to finish my blog's design...i'll try to do that after i finish the comics for this week and the next...

LOL
this is a riot. check out the star wars and lord of the rings versions...
Hand Puppet Movie Theatre

da' meetin'
ok, so the MSCA meeting. it went well.
i've already typed it in my forum, so here it is:

"the monthly MSCA meeting is held at RP Tracks, a little bar and grill near the Univeristy of Memphis campus, right next to the Tiger Bookstore.
i got to meet lots of cool folks who draw and talk comics.
of course i'm bad with names...
one guy draws political cartoons for a local newspaper. the desoto county times, i think...
another guy was a ghost artist for "hagar the horrible."
yet another is one half of the creative team for the comic, "the buckets."
they were a laid-back, friendly groups of folks. i had a good time.
i took along some blue canary strips and they laughed in the right places! woo hoo! "

i'm an offical member now. yes, i know i'm such a sucker. lol
i can't wait for the next meeting. it was fun.
as for being laid back, ken put it best after president tommy williams called the MSCA an "organization."
"that's a strong word for as laid-back as you guys are!"
which was followed by laughter. 8^)
they liked ken's work, too. he's going to try to have more to show at the next meeting.
now, i'm counting down the time at work so i can see him!
he's finished pencilling a new first page for In Shining Armor. he's going to start that story all over again from another point in the story's timeline. i'm glad he's starting to work on it again. 8^)

it's time for a fortune cookie moment...
"You will be called upon to help a friend in trouble.
Lucky Numbers 10, 21, 30, 31, 34, 42"

it's tonight!
the MSCA meeting that is! i'm excited!
while i'm doing that, i'll be inking in this week's comic.
i hope to make lots of progress on it during the meeting.
wish me luck!

chocolate!
i decided to go by the store and get some chocolate during my late lunch break.
i couldn't find those lindt bars the store had on sale, so i got ghiradelli instead.
mmmm! now this dark chocolate i can handle!
Also, while there i stocked my junk food stash! got ken a bag of hot fries. 8^)
i know he likes them, but part of me feels a little guilty since he's trying to lose weight.
i know! i'll help him eat them 8^) then it won't be so bad.
man, i wish all solutions were this easy.

last night, i was adding the dialouge to my comic, when i noticed that my comic fonts was gone! what?
i didn't delete it, it just vanished. i noticed that the bold and bold italic versions disappeard months ago, but i was getting along without them ok.
and now they vanished?
lucky for me, ken had copies and sent them to me over yahoo messenger. i love my boy. he saved my comic. 8^)

i bumped into leif at mcalister's (that is were i went for actual lunch food.)
he mentioned the music on main street thing they've been having on weekends downtown.
i'll this for jonesboro, it's got a cool downtown area. my friend nancy, who's a native new yorker, once called it a "mini-manhattan."
maybe if ken wants to, we can go. don't worry, jo, i won't mention you or foss. or mention where i live.

and now they finally told me that yes, they've decided to have labor day off. i wish they would've told me earlier.
i could fly down to see mom in texas, but that means less time with ken.
ack! i hate decisions like this. see why i want all my decisions to be easy? but then life prolly wouldn't be worth living without tough chocies.
i'll talk to ken tonight and then call mom and see.
i've hardly been calling home at all. part of me feels real guilty. why am i doing this? glad to get out? axnious to get away? with dad i can kinda understand, even though he's easier to deal with now that i'm not under his roof, but what about mom? i guess i'm so used to her calling every day like she used to when she lived in state.

i opened my e-mail this morning to a piece of fan art from tim. 8^) he's trying to start his own webomic as soon as keen_ activates new accounts...
yay!
also, i heard from a fan who hadn't written in awhile. he wants to get a tattoo, with ferdinand on it. i get to design it. this ought to be interesting...

darn! i have to re-e-mail that ad again!
why aren't they receiving the corrected version? dang it!

signing up
just send out for my cbldf membership. 8^)

i want!
*sniff* i want this for my office!

now i've seen it all
behold, the bible tranlated into...pig latin?

delays
well, my comic wasn't finished before bed tonight, the sleepys hit hard. good thing, too, since one of the big bosses was in this morning.
i'll finish the comic after work. all i need to do is scan it, do graytones and dialouge.

oh, great.
and now, they're finding things they want to change on the ad, after deadline. i doubt they'll get the corrections in time.
ug! why don't you people look at this and comment before the deadline is up, huh? sheesh!

ken has decided to start back to work on in shining armor while he waits for the keenspace account for monday the 13th to be activated.

plus, the chocolove strong dark chocolate bar is too strong for me. 70% cocoa!
maybe i should get a pure dark one instead next time. that won't be as bitter with 55% cocoa.
i'll give this stong one to jo. she'll like it.

And now, a fortune cookie moment...
"A good home is happiness.
Lucky Numbers 8, 21, 32, 37, 38, 39"

you know, i think they quit trying on those last three numbers. 6^)

leaks and assorted ramblings
i moved my keyboard at work this morning to discover a small puddle of water. it was about 6" long by 1" wide.
what tha? i didn't spill any water...
turns out that the unbelieveibly fast and hard storm we had on saturday caused a few leaks, one of which right above my computer and printer.
both are ok, i mean i am typing this on it, so no worries there.
i had some help and we rearranged my office so my computer is safe from leakage.
only thing is i hate the new layout. it makes my office look smaller. ick.
perhaps i can move it again once the leaks are fixed...

i've got to draw a comic this week. i never got a chance to build up a buffer the past weeks while i was fiddling with pngs.
i did spend alot of this weekend playing worms:armageddon with ken. we managed to find a copy. 8^)P oh, that game is so fun!
maybe jo and i can paly a round if she's not too tired after class. that reminds me, i need to pick her up at wilson hall tonight.

i think keen_ may start activating new accounts soon! yay! that means ken can start his new comic! 8^D
i can't wait for him to start that up. we also discussed bringing out our old spy ducks and such. it would be fun to bring them back in comic form. we never got past idea stage last time.

plus, it looks like next year's keenspace spotlight comic book will be given away on free comic book day as well as at next year's comiccon. 8^) now, i'm happy about that. i wonder if i can get the local shop here to get a box to pass out...
the next issue of the zine for the nice is starting to get underway. perhaps the comic shop will pass those out, too.
i'm anxiously awaiting my membership stuff from the friends of lulu and the msca. i'm hoping i get another "real women read comics," bumper sticker. the old one was rather attached to my old car, leon the neon, when he was sold.
*waits patiently by the mailbox* that reminds me, i need to buy some stamps...

updates and stuff
well, today's comic loaded fine. why?
i used a jpeg. but i have not given up on the png. i'm gonna wait awhile and then try again.
thanks to Russ over at KO Fight Club for fixing the preivous png.
also, thanks to all on the ecartoonists list for the helpful png info. it was very helpful.

the second roomate has returned.
actually i'm the third. 8^)
emily stayed with her folks this summer and now that college has started back up, she with us once more.
i don't know emily that well, but from what i've experienced she's quite nice. hopefully, things will go smoothly.

more fan art! cute odile sketch from b.j. hiorns of jackie's fridge! i love getting fan art. it makes me happy. 8^)

i tried fixing my archive page last night. didn't take. what am i doing wrong? is is some little something that i'm forgetting? what?

i'm thinking of cutting my hair shorter once again. maybe after crown list. i might need that extra length for the period hair style.

i'm also tinking of saving up and getting a bigger monitor for my computer at home. it's hard to use adobe golive to design webpages on a 15" screen. i wish i had mom's monitor. that would be a nice one. i'll just have to shop around and see how much i can get away with for little money.

i renewed my membership to the friends of lulu on monday and sent in a check to join the msca as well! 8^)

ok. that's all i can think of. back to work.

stupid pngs!
what did i do wrong? all i got was a black box instead of my comic. ;.;
that and the url to the fanart page is wrong! on two of the 3 links to in on the main page.
use the blue button for it instead of the text links. i'll try to fix it tomorrow.
i may just load super-huge jpegs on the page after all....
the fanart is just precious! valentine drew a cute image of odile and amelia. so go see it. 8^)

darn!
i just returned a call from my bank...
apparently the check i deposited in the new roomates grocery/bills account made me overdrawn by a little over $2.00.
yuck. hmmm.
i wonder why the bank's amount and mine is so different? according to my checkbook i have enough...

update 8-15-02 i took care of this. i wonder why it was so off...did i add instead of substact? o.0

increasing my readership
tim, one of my fans on the forum, just gave me an idea...
xerox some flyers.
i can post these all over the campus in an effort to increase my readership.
i told him about my post-it note campaign...go into the computer labs and place post-its with my comic's web address on the monitors. 8^)
i'll look into that...

lots o' stuff
the past few days have been interesting..
i had a business meeting in texarkana on the ninth, a long one! the drive itself was ok, thanks to sandra, who did most of that. plus it was better than driving alone.
sandra is the northern regional supervisor of our cancer stick stores.
the meeting took all day! i got there in the texarkana branch office at 8:30 am, the meeting began at 9. while stopped around 12:30pm for lunch, back in the meeting at 1:08 and didn't stop until 5:30! o.0
from there sandra needed to talk with bill, the southern area supervisor on some issued brought up in the meeting and check out a couple of his stores for shelving.
big stores, the biggest ones i've seen so far.
then we were on the road home. we arrived in judsonia around 10:30pm and i crashed at sandra's. if i had tried to go on home, i wouldn't have gotten there until 12:30am.
plus i had to work the next day! 9.9

luckily, i got reimbused for my mileage to bald knob, where i met sandra and for my meals.
and all the time on the road was also time on the clock. $cha-ching!$

i learned alot about the stores, hopefully it will help me design better ads for the stores. and i believe we're going to negoiate contracts with our advertisers to bring the costs of the ads down. plus my work load on the ads might increase by 3 more stores soon. i just finished a report on all the ad info i possessed to aid with that.

this weekend i spent with ken. 8^)
which was good.
i met jo and scott and the rest of the folks at dee's little lets make stuff for the feast hall night at her place and then back to ken's where doug and c were visiting.
they were watching "tomb raider" when i got back. we were all so tired after the movie that we crashed there.
but i didn't sleep too good. yet another urinary tract infection has snuck up on me.

*sigh* i tried to get in to the urologist on monday but he's out of the office until next monday. >8^(
so, i ran to urgentcare to get some meds until then. i've been battling these things for well over a year now and i'm getting sick and tired of it (no pun intended.)
it seemed like i was going every month to the doctor with one of these 'til i found the urolgist and now i have one again. UG! why isn't the medicine enough?
i'll ask the urologist if there is something he can do...
i'm feeling better, but i didn't get my comic done done to not being able to sit still for very long.
so i'm uploading the pages i did for the keenspace spotlight book they handed out at comic-con international.
that gives me time to finish that project for cindy (see below,) and get a couple of comics done.

jeremy is here to install our new cable modem. we are that providers only business package client and therefore it will have the speed of a t1. oh yeah! >8^)
linda and i are going to be it's geinea pigs. 8^) alas, this mean the old servers, spock, bones and kirk (what? the old i.t. guys were star trek fans? what gave you that idea?) will soon be outdated and making room for king edward, prince albert and sir releigh.
*you got prince albert in a can? whay don't ya let 'im out?* yes i know, silly but cute.

i got a commision from cindy, my old boss at my internship. i need to work on it tonight. a cute illustration for a logo. and best of all, i'm getting paid for it! yes!
freelance work! woo hoo!

i must draw tonight! and dangnabit, after missing an update, i will have something on my page tomorrow!

fortune cookie!
"You have an ambitious nature and may make a name for yourself.
Lucky Numbers 6, 17, 18, 23, 30, 39"

guess who had chinese buffet for lunch. 8^)

it worked!
yea! i just relized that the update i made on the faqs page for my comic took!
that is it update properly! yea!
perhaps i can fix the holes in the code with a design update after all...

truckin'
first business trip ever this week.
had a meeting in texarkana on wedensday (i was traveling on tuesday and on wedensday night. 0.o)
least i was clocking up the overtime. learned quite a bit there, too.
but the trip made my comic schedule go awry!
i'm still working out what it's going to be.
this is why i wish i could get it scripted out in advance. maybe ken and i can do that...
but i know i have a deadline, the comic needs to be on the page tomorrow. and it shall be!

i do have sketches made on the future layout for my webpage. now i have an idea of what i want to use as a guideline, plus i get to use ken's super-sweet computer.
hmmm. maybe i should copy my webpage stuff onto disk again and take it with me in case i need to load anything.

i'm seeing con-reports all over now from those who attended the san diego comic con international. all i can say is i wish i could've gone.
but next year i will be there! 8^)

i'm doing a cartoon for a logo for my old boss at my internship. 8^)
she has the sketches right now and is showing the client.
we'll see how it goes from there. 8^) yea! freelance work! woo hoo!

*yawn* ok, back to work!

go read over at neil gaiman's blog.
his current entry is why i'll prolly join the comic book legal defense fund when i get money.
that reminds me i need to renew my friends of lulu membership, too...

raindrops keep fallin' on ma head
what a day.
first the rain and lots of it. not to mention lighting.
the power went out here at work and the net was down for awhile, too. (before the lights, folks.)

yesterday i got a little postcard from ups. they had a package for me that they couldn't deliver (someone added an extra number to the street address.) it was the fabled keenspace spotlight book!
the keenspacers have pulled together their art and resources to create a little ( 0.o 80 pages!) book to hand out free at the san diego comic-con which starts this thursday.
wwaaahhh!!! i wanna go, wanna go!!! waaahh!
oh, well maybe next year.

there's some good stuff in here and some ok stuff, i.e. needs work, but if they keep drawing, then they'll be working on it. 8^)
i mean even my stuff needs work. some places in the drawings look blurry and there is a typo! opps!
there were also printing errors. poor mark of zortic. his pages were mixed up with that from another book. and then on page 68...poor bry. the ad for lcd was crooked, resulting in some of the text getting cropped of the page. otherwise, it's not bad. i hope it does well at the con. 8^)
if you go to the con, go by booth 1450, the keenspot booth, and pick up a copy! even with the errors and stuff, it's still cool.

the rain has calmed down and i've eaten way too much junk food. i gotta have real food tonight, so i can think straight.
i have to finish scripting out thursdays comic so i can draw it tomorrow.

all this and i'm wearing no pants today.
o.0
ok, it's a skirt, but still...

i've had too much sugar and i'm being way to silly. definately too much junk food. oy.

glych liked the little comic i did. her's is here in my forum. 8^)

scary!
i don't normally get political, but...
well, after listening about the tips program ashcroft wants and then reading the blog of cartoonist tom tomorrow, who draws the politcal strip, this modern world, i now consider the election of george w. bush one of the worst mistakes ever.
i've never been a fan of him to start with.
first, he wants to attack iraq. i'm not happy with ole saddam, but doesn't that make us look bad by just attacking them while telling the rest of the arab community in the middle east that we're all for peace? no wonder they see us as the great evil.
then, the would buearu of homeland sercurity...yeah, our current stuff needs work, but all you're doing it creating more red tape and paperwork.
and don't get me started on ashcroft. mr. ashcroft, go away, please! you're not helping anyone.
ya know i used to be a little apathetic about all this, but after hearing about that inane tips program...
if we want to let citizens spy on fellow citizens, thens let's just quit captalism altogether, put the berlin wall back up and go commie or fascist.
let's just take everybody's civil and other liberties away!
this'll be worse than mccarthy looking for commie's everywhere in the 1950s.

i really dread what will happen before mr. low i.q. bush gets out of office.
ugh! >8^(

i am seriously considering of writing to my senator about all this.
don't know if i will, but i'm thinking about it.
and i was in a good mood until i starting thinking about this! bah!

annoying
i just found the worst pop up ad ever!
it just showed up as a square in the middle of the page, no minimize or close buttons, no way to get rid of it.
it just sat there and eventually faded as it moved to the upper left side of the page.
yuck. that type of ad should be illegal. *ggrrrr*


just as annoying was my isp last night when i tried to load today's blue canary comic.
granted it was 1 am, but still...
first try, it said the computer i was dialing was not responding and every try after that resulted in a busy signal. 8^P
so i had to load it this morning when i got up. 9_9
i just wish it was friday...

ladies and gentlemen,
pending their approval of course, i declare the ads for the first half of august complete.

ya want fries with that, your majesty?
i got an e-mail from dee, who's in our local sca group.
we're hosting crown list in october and she asked if jo and i would be kind enough to serve the high table where the king and queen will sit during the feast.
*squeal!* jo and i are so excited about this. it'll be the first time i've met anyone holding a post that high.
we'll be wearing identical period gard in the colors of meridies, black and white.
half the fun will be planning these two outifts....8^)
can't wait 'til october.

in the meantime, i will be working on my comic today after helping jo move my othr mattress upstair to emily's room. then when emily returns for the fall semester at asu, she will have her pick of mattress instead of dealing with that ancient and uncomfortable twin one in her room currently.

yesterday after work was depressing.
i stressed as i went to dad's to get my mail. i wasn't for sure wheat mood he'd be in. turns out he was in an ok mood. my mail turned out to be the first payment thingie for my student loans, which while it wasn't good, i don't owe that much* so that's not bad.
on the way there, i get pulled over by a state trooper. the same one who pulled me over in may for speeding. yes, i was speeding.
when he asked where i was going to so fast, i explained it was to dad's, that i wanted to get my mail and get outta there and little bit about the divorce. i got off with a warning *whew!*
but it left a damper on my mood.
golive on my computer is acting up, the inspector box will not show an option for tiling images as a background. i don't know how to fix this. i may get ken to do that soon.
and i got the catalog i was waiting for from the SCAD.
tution was high. higher than i thought. i would need lots of finacial help, especially if i wasn't able to obtain a fellowship.
that and it sounds like ken doesn't really want to go to savannah, but would for me. that means that i cannot risk failing if i do go.
i developed a very defeatist attitude, wondering if i could go at all...*sigh*
perhaps i can still go but it may be awhile. i will have to change some personal habits like doing things at the last minute, arriving to places late and some major adjustments in attitude (i.e. getting rid of the defeatist one for example.)
God grant me the grace to do this and the strength to continue. it seems i've got a lot of self-imporvement work to do...

but like scarlett, i'll deal with it tomorrow.
i have a comic to do tonight and i will not miss my deadline.
i think i'll go see eric convey some emotions so i can smile.

*i have 2 student loans, both about $2,000 and something a piece and this is after 5 years of school. not bad.

this is cute, funny, werid and a little stupid. but it'll make you laugh.
eric conveys an emotion

2 mosquito creeks?
hmmm. not good.
i got an e-mail from a nice lady named kim. she wanted to print one of my cartoons. unfortunately, it wasn't my cartoons. it was the work of james robbins, who happens to draw mosquio creek.

what? you say i draw that comic? well, it looks like there are two mosquito creeks. here's the comic kim wanted to print.
you can see my old comic here.

well, this won't do.
my comic is copyright '98, his '99. but i've been toying with changing the name ever since i saw this. i dunno if i want to create battle of anything over this. i have an idea, see.
when i go to visit ken in osceola i see a little liquor store called spirit world. this creates the image of a haunted liquor store in my mind. cute visual pun, huh? i may have it that natalie and her mother, mary an, come back home to a family owned liquor store as well as the house. hmmm. it would give it a centering point i think, better than the family house or the high school. i could focus on both natalie's life in the school and mary an's as she works in the store when not investigating paranormal activity.

well, i tried to e-mail james about this, but the e-mail i got from his page bounced back. i bet it did to poor kim, too. rats.
i was wanted his feedback on this.

waiting
almost time to go and i still haven't heard from terry or tom on that ad. i need their approval on it or i can't send it tomorrow.
hurry up you two!

well, it's official. ken's new computer is cool. 8^) hopefully it will be thing he needs to start on monday the 13th.

he was going to come over on friday evening and we were going to see a movie, but well, plans got sidetracked.
on his way home from osecola, he saw something on the side of the road, two sad little eyes.
they belonged to a puppy, purebred golden retreiver about 6-8 weeks old from the looks of it. who knows how long he was out there.
he had a sister with him who unfortunatley got hit and killed by a car. he was staying near her. there were no houses near by. this was the proverbial "middle of nowhere."
ken said the puppy was estatic to see him, crawling up his shoulder and licking his face and hands. he couldn't just leave him there.
so with the puppy in his lap, he drove out to his parents' place. i met him there.

he's so cute! they've named him "lucky" and he's gotten a clean bill of health from the vet. he's such a sweet dog. he's a buff golden, meaning he's a lighter shade than normal, but still a golden retriever.

i don't see how someone could disregard life so much to put to puppies out in the middle of nowhere. *ggrrrrr*
while, lucky was indeed lucky, i feel bad about his sister who never had a chance. who knows how many people went down that road...not many but enough to hit the poor thing and then to drive by not caring. plus, it had been raining alot the previous days. and it was a purebred to boot!
poor things...i know more people would have picked up the puppy but driven on by if it was a kitten. that also makes me mad! >8^(

but i'm glad things turned out happy for lucky. he's gonna be a good dog.

mom went back to texas yesterday. it'll be awhile before i see her again. it was good to see her even the short time she was here, though.

i talked with jonathan stanley finally. unless we can convince ms. thrasher, the faculty herald advisor, to accept submissions from an alumni or i take a class this fall, there won't be much of a way for me to help jonathan with the cartoons. maybe i could do 2 or 3, but beyond that if ms. thraxher puts her foot down, i won't be able to submitt more than that. we'll see how it goes. maybe there's an art student who oughta join the staff. i vaguely recall talking with grover about that, but who was it that i recommended? *think, kit, think!*

tonight, jo and i go to a pampered chef party. food should be good and maybe i can get ken a new pizza stone since jo kinda permently borrowed his. after that, i'll be working on my comic's new site design. *crosses fingers* hope it works out ok. 8^)

our local, itty bitty sca group just found out it's hosting the kingdom crown list in october. o.0
that means the tournament battle to decide who will be the next heirs to the throne of meridies. and it's a big kingdom. i know foss is excited. 8^)P

ok, back to the ads! i have a deadline here.

well, i was so pooped when i got home. all i did was change into my jammies, ate a banana and started to read my new book, tomb, temples and heiroglyphs by barbara mertz. good stuff. 8^)
i tried to call my love often last night but keeping getting a busy signal. his friend, jt, was over and they had left the internet on. 9.9
while trying to call him, i got a call from jonathan stanely. i meet him at 4:30pm at the edge coffeehouse to discuss whether i can draw cartoons for the herald in the fall. 8^)

after that, ken finally calls. 8^D
he was in a cheerful mood since he had someone over and wasn't bored. plus he was drawing! yea!

working on the ads some more. that is all.

plannin'

i haven't been a total bore right now, i have a rough sketch for the next Blue Canary comic and a new costume design for odile.
you honestly think she's gonna hunt and stake vampires in that skirt? uh-huh. pants are much easier. she's not that stupid. being stupid is amelia's job.
i think it's a pretty good design, considering the stuff i've designed for her sisters, but posting those pictures will have to wait until i update my site design some.

ken now has adobe golive. i'll see about redesigning my site in that. then i'll have him go over the code and tweak it.
that should elimate any broken links and holes in code and make it load nice and pretty. 8^)
also, i'm thinking that since my comic's file sizes are getting pretty big. they used to be abour 50k or so, which i thinkit pretty big, but now it's around 80k. i'm toying with the idea of switching the file formats from .gif and .jpg to .png. what does that mean? for starters, most readers will need the current version of their web browers. and i don't know what it'll do to the ones that don't use internet "exploder" and netscape. first, though, i gotta see if any of the programs i have at home will save to that format.
i may start on that next weekend. it will be a time consuming project to redesign my entire site. i've got alot of stuff to do there.

another thing i'd like to do is a guide to my characters, kinda of like a cast page but more along the line of a character sheet animators use.
this way anyone doing a guest comic has an easier time with the look of my characters. it would have facts in there like, odile does have a nose but one can only see it in profile view, the exact shade of blue for ferdinand in RGB is R=82 G=187 B=245, and etc. i usually have to plunge through other artist's archives to get some knowledge, but this would save some time i think.

wanna go home

i'm watching the clock. i'm staying late today so i can come in an hour late tomorrow.
but i'm bored. i didn't get all of the info from the hope paper like i had hoped i would. i'll see if i can speak to them again tomorrow. at least alot of the info inside the ad is about the same as the last. i'm adding 3 more stores so, i have 8 ads to do. they are mostly alike so that speeds it up. and monday, i think, we open a brand new store so i'm sure that number will be raised to 9 before the month is out.

*rats* i just missed a call on my cell. let's see who it was...
it was jonathan stanley from the herald, who's call i was waiting on.
i do have his number now, so i'll call him later and see if we can work this comic thing out.

i wanna go home.

comic's done.

*yawn* and i got it up on time too. i'm proud of myself. i set a goal and met it. 8^) don't stop now, kit, don't stop now.
bj over at jackie's fridge sent me a cute sketch of odile. yea! i'm gonna see if i can put it up on my fan art page. also, i need to scan some stuff in and send it to glych...
gotta get to working on the comic jam.

plus, jonathan stanley over at the herald wants to run some of my comics. not blue canary, but something else. we'll see how that goes.

ok, i've gotta work on more ads. a deadline's a comin'!

time, payday and chocolate

well, restarting my computer fixied my stupid yahoo problem. feh. at least i can see my e-mail now.

i hope i get that comic done tonight!
see i have been busy. and mom takes time, too. i love her, don't get me wrong, but she always has something for me to do.
yesterday is was to fetch her a bag of ice and to try "fix" her phone. she has a nokia 6155 now and didn't know there were more than 4 ringtones and doesn't know about how to save numbers in her phonebook on it. oh, she'll learn if she gets the gumption to, she just sits thre until she figures it out. i admire her for that. 8^)
but momma, i have a comic to do!
i do think i have a cool mom, though.
she got a gameboy advance and the tetris world game cartridge to play on plane trips. 8^)

i remember papa and granny always had tasks for mom and me to do. go get me this. go get me that.
"why?"i would ask.
"because your legs were younger," was always the reply.
and if i ever have kids i'll prolly do the same thing. the cycle continues. *sigh*

it's payday! yea! i cashed my check.
good news: i have money.
bad news: i need to pay rent. bye bye money!

my supervisor linda offered two bars of nestle baking chocolate. turns out we got an order filled wrong. after it got all sorted out, we got to keep the stuff so the staff here is taking it home. i think jo will be happy to see 2 bars of semi-sweet baking chocolate. 8^)

yahoo is being a nasty, stupid poo poo head.

all i'm trying to do is check my e-mail. i can't even get the login page up!
all i ever see is that the page cannot be displayed. *GRRR*
i'm not happy about this.
stupid yahoo.

spam, spam, spam, baked beans and spam

i just checked my e-mail to discover that i had spam in my bulk mail folder.
i noticed the subject line: "Hello combcorps, you may have won a trip to the bahamas!"
combcorps?
i guess some spammers are getting too tired to try to personalize the subject lines. they know we'll delete them anyway.
apathy abounds. earlier today i had one that stated that bluecoloredsky could enlarge their penis safely and in the privacy of their own home.
*rolls eyes* what next? ick.

i deleted the spam, btw.

ken and i left for memphis too late to go to the chinese grocery stores. we had a rain and hail delay.
but we got to the airport ok and way ahead of time to pick up mom. i though she was supposed to come in at 6 and here she comes at 7 saying no we were on time...*shrugs*
i'm glad to see her however she is going to stir up some trouble on the house...

at times like this, i wish i could just turn my back on my parents and not look back. but mom wouldn't understand and she is the one i don't want to hurt. i'm not quite so sympathic to my dad. he's ok but he's done somethings in the past that keep me from sugarcoating his fatherly image. i know better.
i worry about my older brother, living with him still. i don't know what to do with him either. i had to move out eventually. i always knew i would. i feel bad that he's still there and when dad here's what mom's up to with the house...i'm afraid he'll take it out on my brother. not psyhically. never that way. dad just yells. he's temper is quick and it's over fast but i've never liked it when someone gets upset or yells. i think that is why. he's mellowed some in recent years but you never know. dagnabit! why does this have to happen? didn't my bro and i suffer enough through the divorce? it was bad at first but it got better. heck, they we're even civil to each other...and now this happens.
*ggggrrrr* i hate this whole mess. i don't care about that house anymore. i just want the whole ordeal over.
i told my parents that i will not pick sides in this mess. mom will respect that. i'm afraid that dad will oh so conveintly forget it. *sigh*
i have mail to pick up at dad's tonight. if he brings if up, i'll remind him of my stance. they are both my parents, like it or not.
when i was little at the beginning of the divorce i had to choose who to live with. i dont' think i really understood at the time. i just knew that i was dad's little spoiled brat. i usually got my way with dad while mom usually made me behave. so i chose. now, i am starting to regret that desicion some.
true, dad made more than mom so he could afford to take care of myself and my brother. and i did go every weekend to visit mom. there never was a custody battle. mom didn't want to do that to us, but she missed alot of my growing up. dad never showed to my school functions until my last two years of high school. it was always mom. she'd be there if no one else would.

i'm afraid to run away from this whole mess, but i'm also afraid to confront it. we'll see what happens in the end.

i like the rain we've been getting but after awhile, it starts to make me depressed.

yea! thanks to the blogger boards, i got that 503 error fixed.
that make me want to get my archive page up and going...
i'll ask jo if she knows how.

darn blogger!
stupid error 503! why won't you work? *grrr*

the thai food jo made on wednesday was wonderful (aleterarion, woo hoo!)
i woke up the next day and tried to find leftover fried bananas for breakfast, only to find them gone. the early bird, jo in this case, gets the fried bananas. she can always make more so i wasn't too hurt by it. 8^)
we had went searching at the local thai resturant, the king and i, the day before, which has a small mini-grocery inside.
jonesboro used to have one and ken and i would love to go in there. but they folded. the only international type grocery we have now is the mexican one. well, we learned at the thai place that if we give them a list of what we want, they can get it for us in a week. cool!

well, i get to see my love today! 8^)
and he's starting to get things together on his webcomic, Monday the 13th! i'm so excited. and i'm thinking it's about time.
when he gets the keenspace account for it, i'll post a link to it.
everyone start reading it. it'll be good!
and i'm not just saying that because i'm dating him. ask jo!

and i got my comic done wednesday night! yea!
now if i have time this weekend, i'll draw the next one. it might have to be just lilne art. we'll she how much time i have.
my scanner works, despite another round of "blue screen of death" on monday evening. this one was easily fixed. i have to disconnect my printer. *whew* what a relief! i thought it would be something major. that i can deal with.
oh, coloring with that wacom is a dream! foss, if you get one, you're so gonna love it!

a year ago, a fan sent me to a comic called No Sterotypes, by amber "glych" greenlee. why? because one of her character's looks alot like amelia. plagerism? nah, i think that great minds just think alike. we both started our comics around the same time but we live in differnt parts of the country, so we couldn't have known...
well, i've been in contact with her recently and she's pretty cool. she colors art for archie comics. she's out their working in the field! i'm a little envious but i'm glad she doing what she loves. maybe if i wasn't in loser arkansas, but i digress...
we must be on the same wavelength because both of our comics have redheads with curly hair and characters weilding magic.
her character, jody, is much smarter than my amelia.
right now she working on a comic called, Glych's Experiment.
No Sterotypes will be produced in a media other than the web.
after seeing the fanart she did for Blue Canary, i predict my own No Sterotypes fanart to follow. 8^) this will be fun. i'm thinking...lightsabers?
right now, poor glych is having virus trouble. 8^( i'm sorry,girl!
*hugs*

tomorrow should be interesting. ken and i are headed to memphis. we'll prolly just wander around. we do have something of an agenda, though.
first mission is to find and oriental grocery store. i have found several on the web complete with phone numbers listed. 8^)
around 5:50pm, we need to be at the airport for my momma is coming home to visit! yea!
she just got her certification to be a nurse's aide and will start training to become and LVN (think LPN, it's just like it. same thing, different name.) *sniff* i'm so proud! i've missed her! ken and i are gonna take her out to eat at red lobster (her choice. 8^) and visit.

fun stuff.
i was searching star wars.com and found some mini sites that offer goodies like desktop patterns and the like. whoever designed these sites not only had too much time on their hands, but had too much fun doing it. i wish i coulda designed these sites...
useekyoda.com
www.kaminorentals.com
purplelightsaber.com

yea, jo!
now i have that comic link problem with scarygoround taken care of.
blogger finally decided to let me see my template page.

working on the color comic tonight still.
and jo is having company.
i don't mind that but i may have to be rude and go back upstairs to work on my comic after i eat.
she's making thai food. ooooo! yum!

i got a fan letter! yea!
that makes me happy.
and there's peoples on my forum!
not many but it's a start. 8^) i thought the poor thing was dying. maybe there's hope after all.
now, wish me luck, i have a comic to finish tonight. i may not sleep much.

hmmm, my code is acting screwy.
i tried to add scarygoround earlier last week under my comics heading, but it keeps wanting to mess the code up by combining it to the link for scottmccloud.com.
bad html code! bad!!
*waps code with a rolled newspaper and rubs it's nose in the mess it's made.*
bad!
what is so odd, it that when i go look at the template to see the code, it's all correct. weird.

i think i have the next comic laid out enough to draw it and i have the next one ironed out as well. 8^)
thanks, love!
poor thing had a terrible headache and yet i got a few ideas out of him and shared some that i came up with for the history of the von Creepensteins.
also friday i was doodling around and i came up with a finalized design of odile and odette's younger sister, otthild. looks good!

i came home friday to a note on the front door from fed ex. my wacom is in! i went and retrieved it posthaste. 8^D it's so cool. i'll use it to do the grayscale on the comic. who knows i may jazz it up to color if i have time. and little need for sleep.

c and i went to see lilo & stitch. quite cute. they're right, it is one of the better ones disney has produced in recent years. almost makes me wish i could've went down the path of becoming an animator. i would've need more skill back then though. perhaps the lord knows what he is doing. i still want to go get that masters in sequential art though, since i doubt any animation school would let me in. they want beginners so they dont' have to reteach you how to draw. that is hard to do, once you get into a habit of drawing a certain way...

i also found the the sketchblog of faith, the artist behind the webcomic, demonology 101. good read! this thing should be published by DC/Vertigo!
the sketchblog idea i like. i may do one of my own. give it a different name and such. i just wonder were i'll upload the images...0.o
but that is a future project. besides i don't want to copy off of faith. she's just too cool an artist to do that to. one must ponder and let the idea percolate in my head. i need to think about it more and take care of other projects before i start this one.

i need to do some updating to the blue canary site...fix a few things...i'll try and do that this week.
i know two of the fan art images are not showing up. *grrr* and after those nice people gave me the art! one of them was the pic ken did of odile... *wah!* at least i can upload it again to keen_.
i've been trying to get a basic design for the mosquito creek site. it looks like i'll be copying the basic design from the blue canary site, but with small changes.
i wish i knew more html! blast that state university design degree! it was more print oriented that digital and only when i was about to graduate did they start to bring in the digital design stuff. 8^( well, i suppose i shall have to learn it elsewhere. for now i might draw up what i want and give it to ken to code out for me.
i also need to fix the design here...it's overdue.

durn painters

i've a habit of checking my e-mail when i get back to my office after being out. i went to pick up the finished letterhead and envelope for the company's tobacco stores. (the finished product looked good.)
i found this in my inbox from a fan named andrew:

"Hey...2 summers ago i saw your comics drawn on the wall at the
accademia in florence, i went back this year, and they painted over everything,
sorry to tell you :( "

i'm sorry, too, andrew.
i was worried that someone would deface it more than it being painted over.

the accedemia is where michelangelo's famous statue of david is housed. the line gets long as the tourist season gets into full swing.
i drew a sketch of me looking ahead and commenting on the long line along with three panels featuring amelia and odile waiting in the accedemia line and falling asleep due to it being so slow. i also drew a cartoony portrait of fellow student, leia la rue.
i did it mostly for fun and to pass time. people seemed to like the comics because i got e-mails from people who visited the accedemia and saw them while they were in line themselves. (i put my comic's web address up in case you're wondering how they got ahold of me.)
a few days later, i went back and saw the doodle of me defaced. someone drew a phallus in the cartoon me's mouth. i was appalled and disgusted. *sigh* why can't people leave my stuff alone?
i did double check the cartoons at the same time and they were untouched. i guess people respect a comic more than a doodle, but then the portrait of leia was also untouched. hmmmm.

now, they have been erased.
at least no one can draw phalluses or mustaches on my stuff this way.
i'm just regret that i don't have pictures of all three panels of odile and amelia's adventures of waiting in line.
i do have one thanks to a fan who snapped a shot and e-mailed it to me. thanks, robin! i still owe her a sketch for that.
i need to find her e-mail and contact her.

i can't wait to get my wacom. it'll be so cool.
go look and see the comic i have up now! i made it all on a graphic tablet.

and i think i have the dialouge worked out enough to start drawing next week's comic. yea!
gotta scan lots o' stuff including fanart for framed!!! i made it back in may but since i moved and then my scanner broke i never got to send it in. it seems i only do fan art when i'm going through archives and i have just finished them, since i lost track of things during the great framed!!! escape. too many crossovers/comics to read during the school year! at least i got caught up know. 8^)

and jo hooked my 'puter up to the internet last night. thanks, jo!

and now i remember that i forgot to drop that corn off the doug and c.
it should still be good, it's still in the fridge. maybe i can do that tonight...
last week my dad sent me home with 21 ears of corn for me and jo to eat or give away. o.0
21 ears! dat's alot of corn. but it's good stuff, though.

i discovered a new comic today, scarygoround. i like the style. it's done completely in adobe illustrator. 8^)

i came to a realization on saturday.

the character, amelia peach, a ditz to whom i gave my curls if not in the same color; the character i thought was a rarity, a dumb redhead...
well i did some thinking listening to of all things, werid al.
amelia isn't the world's only ditzy redhead.
so was lucy ricardo.
true, odile will be no ethel, or will they have to be in a chocolate factory, but they make quite a pair of friends getting into and out of trouble.
it some ways it cheers me to think of amelia as not being alone in her redheaded dimness.

the wacom tablet will arrive this week, thanks to my love. 8^)
i doodled on his tablet some this weekend and have a makeshift strip to post. it's off the storyline, but at least it's an update.
and while i do that, i'll work on the dialouge for the next strip, since ken also got my scanner to work.

he just comes over and the scanner just work's for him. huh. oh,well. i'm glad it works, now.
next week will be a normal comic, thanks to him.
now if i can get jo to hook my computer up to the internet, i'll be set.

i found a webcomic purity test.
it sees just how much webcomics control your life.

and my score was:
"Your score is: 41 of a possible 192 points
You are 21% impure "

which is odd, cause i am a webcartoonist! 0.o go fig.
speaking of which i need to get back to the story, because jo's boy demands it.

i've been rather busy at work, so please forgive the lack of postings.

i knew it was going to be an interesting day when my supervisor, linda, asked, "Kathryn do you know where we can find a belly dancers?"
o.0
o-khay. turns out she wants one as a gag for a fellow employees birthday. hee hee. he's gonna blush!

i had a nice weekend. saw a lot of ken. he was "on call" but we were able to sneak away from osceola for awhile.
however, ken was suffering from headaches most of the weekend due to fronts moving in. he's really sensitive to atmospheric pressure.
we were going to a little computer sale at the agricenter in memphis, but didn't get there in time. so, we went to the mall.
then over to best buy where ken got a fancy schamncy keyboard. can he play? no. but he wants to learn. it has cool sound effects too.
he has an idea about doing flash toons and doing his own music and sound effects. it's be pretty cool.

while we were there, we looked for wacom graphic tablets. can you believe that they didn't have one! *wah!*
i want one. if something happens like, my scanner won't scan, i can draw comics that way and still make deadlines.

after that, we found the coolest place!
i went to italy last summer and fell in love with gelato, italian ice cream.
well, the place we found, the gelato cafe, serves it exactly like they did in florence.
it was so good! it's now my favorite place for ice cream.

sunday was a blah day. mostly snuggling while letting ken rest (his head still hurt.) we did break away to blytheville. i finally got to see the bookstore they have there. small shop, limited supply on the sci-fi/fantasy and craft selections, but lots of good fiction. nice atmosphere.
later his sister dropped by for a visit. i spent the rest of the time playing final fantasy X.

been busy at work with those ads, buydown signage and typin gthat employee handbook.
and one of the ads is due tomorrow! *ack!*
back to work!

well, i've spent most of my day typing.
apparantly they want me to retype the employee handbook (two different ones, now,) and then e-mail it to them so they can make corrections like that.
some things a designer shouldn't have to do. that left me with little time to rework the layout fo the ads for this month. oy.
and i'm only half way through the first handbook!
at least i am not bored, though. and my hands are gettting some exercise. 8^P

at least my love sent me a nice e-mail that made it all better. 8^)

his going to get expereince to get a better job here or elsewhere kick has me on a educational self-improvment kick. not to mention jo's wanting to go to grad school.
i was looking at the portfolio center in atlanta. that has promise. but when will i ever be there? *shrugs*
i may just follow ken where ever he ends up at and see about a university with a good art program that offers illustration courses.

i was have trouble with poses when drawing the comic last night. it's not done because it doesn't look right.
i may have jo pose for me or see about some adult life drawing classes in town. my skills need some sharpening.

i had a pretty good weekend.
jo, david and i went to woodland wars iv, our local sca group's annual event.
i got to borrow a tent from jo's boy, scott and an air mattress from jo. so "sleeping ok" was taken care of.
it did rain on saturday night, but earlier is was as beautiful a day as you could ask for.
and i helped with feast, so food was also taken care of.
dee really did well. i mean everything looked so fancy and tasted wonderful. 8^)
the one class i did go to was interesting. i got tired and with the heat of the day i decided to do the siesta thing and take a nap until court.
and the garb jo made me was so cute! thank you, jo!
it was so cool getting to see everyone again. 8^) such as tracy and stu and jeff and mike and misty, etc.
and after the feast i got to talk to dee about illumination. i'd like to try it out.

things i learned at the event:
+ the water for solar showers take forever to heat up. so go get hot and sweaty and you won't mind a cold shower. also hooks for the solar water bags on the ladies side would be a good thing. thank god there was a water hose with a spray attachment! but solar showers are better than none at all.

+ i have a tendancy to wake up early during events. me, "miss i like to sleep in late!" go fig.

+ bring bug repellant. those 'skeeters and ticks are everywhere!

we went home on sunday. jo, scott and i ordered chinese. yum! i showered and waited for my love to drop by since i had a little time to see him. i was half asleep when he rang the doorbell. i ran down the slick, hardwood stairs in sock feet.
i think you can tell what happens next.
i get near the bottom, miss a step and fall. my knees hit the floor and my face comes very close to smashing into the peace lily by the door.
and i did something to my left foot cause it hurts like heck.
i open the door while sitting on the floor, unsure of getting on my feet. ken came in and helped me to a couch. i spent the rest of the day with my foot elevated and leaning against ken.
he was so thougthful! he got me some ice for my foot. nevermind it hurt to put it one there, but he was so sweet! 8^)
he had to help me get to my room last night before he left. i couldn't hobble up the stairs. i was basically hopping everywhere.

today, it's doing better.
still hurts some, but at least i can limp around.
everyone at work was concerned. i kept hearing, "you're making me hurt watching you limp around," and " you sure you're ok? the bones in feet are pretty fragile."
if it does get worse, i'll see a doc. but i hope it doens' t need that sort of attention. i don't have my insurance yet. it doesn't kick in until october i think. yuk.

i'm gonna go get some water. throat is very dry. *limps off to find a cup*

iknow i said that the last one was the "only concession" to these "who are you" quizzes, but guess what?
i lied.






What 8-Bit Theatre
character are you? at LeetAssQuotes.
NecroVMX

i was just told by jack who works in the warehouse, that there was some candy that was to be given away in the break room. i'd better hurry if i wanted any.
well, who could turn down free candy.
the only thing i saw worth taking was a selection of mike and ike's.
will i eat it? maybe, maybe not. we'll see if i can find a use for it.

and now, a fortune cookie moment.

"You will be awarded some great honor.
Lucky # 9, 15, 20, 21, 33, 39"

hmmm. i wonder what that honor would be?
especially if you follow the "Herald" rule of reading a fortune cookie.

from operators standing by dated April 21, 2000:

"After reporting his cable out, a customer asked the operator "Are you going to call me and keep me entertained while my ****ing cable is out?" The operator replied "Sure, I tell you what--get in the corner and stand on your head and stay there until I call back." (11:38pm)

MMhhhhhaaaaaa!
MMHHHHaAaaaaaa!
*note: that was manical laughter. the "evil glen" would be proud.*
normally i dont' get this crabby or mean-spirited. blame it on the site. 8^)
i'm so glad i don't have their job.

btw- MMhhHHaAAaaaaa!

found something of interest.

operators standing by, a site by jetwolf, half of the team that produces the comic "as if!"
when pbs pledge drives and infomercials state "call now! operators are standing by!" these are the people that you call.
see all sorts of ignorant crap that they put up with.

*warning* can induce a crabby mood after reading about people's stupidity and the general feeling of not wanting to breed. ever.

well, i have the make-do comic drawn, inked and scanned.
tonight after work, i do some small grayscaling an load it to keen.
then i'll start to work on another and hopefully have it done before woodland wars.
that way another comic will show up, even if it's off the current storyline.

i'm feeling kinda blah about the current storyline anyway...
i want it to hurry and end, that way i can concentrate on other stories i want to tell with the characters.
and i've learned that i need either to script out strips in their entirety or have a stricter outline of what goes on.

but i don't know what i am going to draw for the next strip in the story. ihave a rough idea but do i really want to do it?
i prolly will anyway just to progress the story along.

i want to move to updating my comic three days a week. to do so for four month is would need about 52 strips in advance. *whew* lots of drawing.
you know, i still don't think the total of blue canary strips drawn up til this point equals 50!
and the comic will be 2 years old in september! 9.9

i guess i really need to learn to manage my time better, otherwise i'm not going to get anywhere with this.
i'll bring a sketchbook to woodland wars and try to figure out the next storyline in advance. see if i can outline 52 strips and go!