Ahhhhhhhhh.....

I got caught unawares by Easter. Thursday, I was at work, fully intending on coming in the next day, and it wasn't until just before I was leaving that I got rushed out of the building and told they were locking up early for the long weekend.

Long weekend? Isn't that in April?

I'm not complaining, though. It is a much needed break. I've been so stressed out getting the book done that while stretching today, I felt my back muscles suddenly release like a bungee cord holding an improperly secured canoe.

The book went to the printers on Tuesday night. Thursday evening, Layne and I went out for dinner to celebrate. We tried out a steakhouse that has their own meat smoker out back, and though the food was excellent, it gave me an upset stomach. Thankfully, Layne dragged me out for sushi (I was all for going home and lying down), and the combination of green tea and tasty tasty fishies made it feel better.

It felt like I did no work on the comic on Friday, because I puttered around the house relaxing for half the day and ONLY spent five hours or so writing scripts. I mean, jeez. I didn't even do any drawing.

Well, I was planning to... (I need to catch up on my buffer, after all) But thankfully, Shani called and invited us out dancing. I haven't been out dancing since I moved here, so it was great to go out and just dance. Man, that felt goooood... It reminded me that I need to dance more often. I get into this groove (no pun intended) when I dance, where time stops and I'm not really thinking about anything, just letting the music move me... It's wonderfully relaxing, even when I'm stomping and head-banging to some heavy industrial.

Caught up on a lot of sleep on Saturday, and was pleased to find out that my legs weren't sore (though my shoulders were. I dance with my shoulders a lot). I did some more writing for the comic, drew a little, got some groceries with Layne, and just generally relished not living under a deadline.

We did a big turkey dinner this evening for Easter/Belated Spring Equinox/Really, Really Belated Valentine's Dinner/Just 'Cause. It was delicious, but I'm not too surprised, because Layne is a master of making stuffing. I cooked some swiss chard to go with it, which isn't technically a spring green, but is tasty, dammit!

I may or may not have to go into work tomorrow. They weren't quite clear on that point while pushing me out of the door on Thursday, so I'm going to call in the morning and see if anyone's in the office. I seem to recall someone complaining about having to work the stat, but I'm not sure if that applies to everyone or not... We'll see. If I do get the day off, then yay, more chance to relax and slowly catch myself up on the comic, and if not, then at least I had a wonderful few days off.

Post 32 - In which a hedgehog is bathed and Alina goes slightly nutty

I took a little time off from working on the book tonight to wash my hedgehog, who was absolutely filthy from running on her wheel last night (and for the last several nights, for that matter...). She is now trying to convince me that she's the most miserable creature that's ever existed, even though I let her dry off in the nice warm bathroom, wrapped her den in cozy blankets and gave her several treats for enduring the tortures of bath time.

Every time I checked on her to make sure she wasn't damp, she hunkered down and pulled her forehead quills down over her eyes in her patented SquintyFace, sniffled, and then tried to dig deeper into her towel.

Hedgehogs - made of pure cute, even when they're grumpy.

As for myself, I am utterly exhausted. I spent last weekend scrambling to get the book finished, and not coming even remotely close, took Monday and Tuesday off work as well.

Now, that may sound nice. Four day weekend, right? Yeah, well, not when you spent every minute of those four days working, and evenings the previous week as well. It was actually relaxing to go to work today, because I could let myself forget about the book for a bit.

I'm trying not to stress over it too much, but we're getting down to white-knuckle, last-minute, "oh my god, will it ship in time for the Con?" time now, and there's still so much to be done...

It's certainly a do-able amount of work. I have a few revisions to make on the cover, some writing to do for the interior, and most importantly, I need to finish the Introduction. It's my bane right now - I had a direction in mind when I started it, and in the week since then, I've completely lost that goal and veered off on a wild tangent. The problem is, the tangent is still a damn fine tale, and I don't have the heart to cut it all, since it fits very well into my point. But damned if I can make the two fit together well right now. I know that it's just because I've been staring at it too long, and that if I give it a little time, I'll come up with something. But there's a very nervous, very twitchy small animal living in the back of my head, and it has a big pocketwatch and a calendar. Every time even I think of taking a break it goes into pure panic-stricken terror mode and starts warbling things like "deadlines!" and "shipping time!" and that's usually enough to make my logic duck and cover.

I -will- finished this damned thing. I will finish it before Layne gets back from his trip. But maybe I will get some sleep first. I remember sleep. It was that thing I did back before I had a full time job and a book to finish.

What have I been up to lately?

Well, aside from starting a new job, I have been eating, sleeping and breathing webcomics.

I'm going to be heading to a con down in Calgary this spring, and since it'll be my first con I'm trying to pull together everything I would need for a con. You know, like actual physical merchandise, so I'm not just sitting at a table with a tiny sign scribbled in Sharpie that says "Weregeek - By Me", a stack of photocopied prints and that desperate smile that people always wear in British comedies when they are trying really hard to seem competent at something and failing terribly.

Last weekend Layne and I spent a bunch of time pricing out prints and picked up some of those plastic stands for brochures and larger pages. We also picked up some foam core board so that I can make a large cut-out of my logo that will stand behind the booth. I think it'll look sharp, but we will have to figure out how to make a good solid stand for it without any tool of our own. There's still lots to pick up - like a tablecloth and a banner, but it's nice to get a start on things.

The big hurtle has been the merchandise. I have enough strips now to put out a book, and I think that having a book to sell at a con really is necessary. Suddenly, you're not just a kid with some drawings, but a professional with actual work to show. Plus, people who have never read my strip before online can have something to look at right then and there at the con while they have money just burning a hole in their pocket...

So, I have to design a book. In three weeks or less. I'm one week in, and I've got the inside layout done, but I still need to write a bunch of extra blurbs, add some sketches and new drawings, and (ugh) write the introduction. Oh, and then I get to move onto designing the front and back covers.

If that wasn't enough of a project, we're also in the midst of moving my site over from Comic Genesis to my very own site!! I'm reaaaaaaally happy with how the page turned out!! Layne & Todd have both put a ton of work into the site - Todd by doing all of the coding, and Layne by doing everything from checking out ISP's to manually adding my entire archives to the new system. Wow. I really, really couldn't have done it without them. I just supplied the design and images, and they made it work. Yay!!

The new site should go live by Monday at the latest, and though I'm expecting to lose a few readers in the move, I think having full control over the content on the site will be more than worth it.

So, um. Yeah. Busy. Very busy.

Stupid. God. Damned. Fucking. Car.

I was going to start a new job this morning. I was aaaaaaall ready for it, too. Woke up unnecessarily early. Packed a lunch. Left in plenty of time to find the place.

And the fucking front tire is completely dead flat. And it's pretty fucking cold out.

I got the tire off and the spare out of the trunk before someone stopped. The guy was real sympathetic, and helped tighten the bolts, but by then I'd already been outside for a half hour, cursing and kicking and praying my piece-of-crap jack would hold. My feet had pretty much lost all feeling, and two of my fingers were completely white. Oh yeah, and that bone-rattling cough I still have? Yeah, that's really great when I'm sucking in icy fucking air.

Grrrrrr.

Random out-of-context quote of the day:

"Jeez!! You'd think I carried razor blades in my armpits or something..."

Alina vs. God of War

Alina: Yay!! I got God of War!! Time to play it!
Alina: Oooooh, hydra! SHINY!

(Five minutes later)
Alina: Stupid! Fucking! Archers!! Stop shooting my box!!!
Layne: They're shooting your what now?

(Often, over the next few days)
Alina: You want me to do what now? Oh, fuckin' hell... I'm going to check the walkthrough... It can't be THAT stupid...
Layne: (smirking) ...
Alina: Yup!! It -IS- that stupid... Ressing fressing... Stupid, stupid timed platform jumping...

(Somewhere in Pandora's Temple)
Alina: Hades' Balls!!
Layne: Wha---?
Alina: No, seriously. Look. They're flamey!

(Much later)
Alina: (unintelligible noise of anger)
Layne: What was that?
Alina: I said, stupid freaking spinning pillars. ARGH! Fuck!
Layne: Nothing like a nice, relaxing game after work, hmm?
Alina: DIE YOU STUPID FUCKING FLAMING ARCHERS!! Grrrraaaargh!

(Shortly thereafter)
Alina: Why does Ares have spider arms on his bac---Holy crap!! I have to fight ARES!! (button mashing...)
Alina: HAH! Eat that!! Uh oh, wait...
Alina: AAAAAAAGH! Now I have to fight me - no, wait, zombie-me! Aaaaagh!
Alina: You... Will.... Not... Have... My... Family!!!
Layne: Maybe now is a good time for Hades' Army?
Alina: Used it already! Aaaaagh! Quickly...Must...group...hug!!!

(One climactic battle scene (and much frantic cursing) later)
Alina: HAH!!!! I win!!! Ooooh... Cutscene...
God of War: You have unlocked...
Alina: CONCEPT ART! Glee!
Layne: It says you've also unlocked God Mode... What is that?
Alina: Ludicrously hard. You do half damage, and your enemies do FIVE times their normal damage to you, and I swear about ten times as much and never get past the first box puzzle.
Layne: So, that's a no then?
Alina: ... Maybe in a bit.

It used to be that I had only a couple conditions with which to make me a reasonably happy, productive worker. One was my own space in which to work since I can't stand people looming over my shoulder while I'm trying to concentrate, and another was to have proper equipment for the task at hand. There's more, obviously, but those are the things without which the other conditions become rather irrelevant, and I become rather irate.

Today, I have added a new condition, one that I never thought I would need to add. That condition is:

Access to an indoor toilet. And not having to wash my hands in a snowbank afterwards.

(A hard hat in hazardous conditions might also be nice, but I believe that falls under the category of "proper equipment")