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")

Anyone who's never worn contacts or glasses will never be able to understand the joy of getting a new prescription filled.

It's like suddenly gaining a super power. The world is suddenly crisp, sharp, intense. Tiny twigs on distant branches spring into view, you can see textures up to three blocks away, and as your eyes adjust to the new, more powerful prescription, you feel as though you've grown several feet and are towering over a vast carpet with individually outlines specks of dust clinging to the woven fibers like small peasants that you can crush underfoot.

This feeling wears off after a week or so. So, if during the next little while I break out in dramatic poses or seem shocked that I'm actually kind of shorter than I thought, you'll know why.

Ikea : When you need a map and 100 feet of rope just to go buy a lamp, something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

New Years

2007: In review

- Finished the second season of a T.V. show, said my goodbyes to cast and crew
- Moved to Edmonton
- Hung out with tons of awesome people in Edmonton, started playing Hell to Pay
- Learned how to sew PVC. Hell, learned how to sew at all. (With a machine, anyway)
- Finished off my first year of my comic, and built up a nice-sized reader base
- Got my first piece of fanart!! Woo!
- Got my own piece of fanart published in a comic anthology. Also woo!


2008: To Do

- Get a job. You know, like one I can actually put on my resume and feel good about, and that doesn't involve scrubbing toilets
- Keep putting out those thrice-weekly updates
- Find a tabletop group
- Try running a tabletop game
- Have an adventure. (Well, above and beyond the little adventures that make up my life.)
- Experiment with casting my own stop-motion characters
- Find a hedgehog breeder and get Hazel someone to snuggle with/ignore completely
- Keep on rockin'

Dealing with family drama at Christmas : Tiring.

Boxing Day at the mall when you've had too much coffee is pretty much exactly like the Berserker powerup from Doom 3, except that there's less actual tearing people apart with your bare hands and more just wishing that you could.

Concerning Hedgehogs

The snow settled in on the evening of the 3rd, and the cold weather seems to be here to stay now. As much as I don't like the cold weather, I know of a little beastie who likes the cold even less than I do.

Algerian Hedgehogs, like my sweet little Hazel, can't stand the cold. If their surroundings are too cool, they will become lethargic and will try to hibernate. However, since they are a desert species, they don't have the proper metabolism to hibernate properly, and most who do try will slip into a coma a die.

That's why I always have a heat emitter aimed at Hazel's pen. Unfortunately, I'd failed to account for the draft coming in from a nearby window. I'd checked in on her before we'd left for dinner on Sunday night, and she was showing the first warning signs of hedgie-hypothermia - cold paws, dry nose, and a wobbly gait.

Layne and I quickly rearranged her pen to move her bed more directly into the path of the heat lamp, and I gave her tons of extra blankets. She seems to be doing better now, but I'm still checking her regularly. When the radiator finally kicks in, it should more than negate any drafts getting into her pen, but I still worry about her. She's quilling right now - shedding last year's quills and regrowing a whole new set, which always lowers her immune system and her appetite, so any extra stress on her system could make her very sick. Poor little quillbeast.

And now, on a cheerier note : A Bunny Sticking Its Tongue Out At A Grumpy Hedgehog.

I feel loved!

Tonight I met a whole bunch of folks out in St. Albert for my birthday dinner, since yesterday evening was pretty much entirely taken up with the game. The food was excellent as always. I had a fish and crawdads dish that was so delicious it actually caused me to forget what I was saying. I also got to try a root beer glazed dish, and even though it tasted exactly like A&W root beer, it still went fantastically well with the sweet onions and pork. The chef out there has never failed to please. (Well, except for not having any hush puppies. That made me sad.)

But, as great as the food was, far better was the company. We managed to fill a huge table, and I had a great time chatting with everyone, even though there were so many folks I had to migrate along one edge of the table just to speak to everyone! It was a ton of fun, and I am so lucky to know such awesome people. Yay! ^_^

My birthday, so far, has been wonderful and weird. I don't know if it was just the full moon or some wonderful serendipitous attempt to delight me on my birthday, but the world has seemed to conspire to endlessly amuse me today.

First off, there was the flasher.

I had decided early this morning, while playing Katamari in my pajamas, that I would like to go to the river to feed the birds. I puttered around for a bit, deliberately not thinking about the massive pile of things I still had to do, because, hey, it was my birthday and I would be damned if I was going to spend the day working. Before we left to go to the river, I needed to go across the street to the bank.

There was a woman standing on the corner, looking as though she also wished to cross. I stood beside her, waiting for a break in traffic, when suddenly she turns to me a lifts up her shirt.

"HI!!" she says, grinning hugely.
"err." I manage. "Hi. Nice day?"

I crossed the street. The ladies in the bank were lined up at the window, bemusedly watching the woman flash cars at random. They got back to work as I came in, and one of them halfheartedly suggested calling the police. Layne also got flashed as he came across the street to meet me, and we chuckled about it on our way back to the car. That little incident done, we picked up some sandwiches from the little cafe down the street, and then headed down to the river.

It was a little cooler than I would have liked, but it did mean that the river was nice and quiet. Layne and I found ourselves a picnic table, and had a nice lunch. While we were eating, I glanced over and saw a small figure in the distance. It was wearing a fox suit.

"Aww," I said, "Isn't that cute? That kid's still wearing his Halloween costume."

The figure came closer, and loomed larger. "I don't think that's a kid..." said Layne.

I spent the rest of lunch watching the furry and his photographer have a wonderful, frolicking photo-shoot in the leaves. I was highly amused by his antics (which included rolling in the leaves and general cartoonish romping) and by the sheer random weirdness. I kept wondering if his suit was homemade - it looked to be pretty well constructed, but after a moment or two of my inner costume-geek trying to figure out what one would use to make a full-sized mascot head (foam and lightweight tubing, obviously) I gave up the line of thought and continued on with my lunch.

After lunch, we wandered down the trails by the river and fed the chickadees. I normally would feel guilty about feeding wild birds, as it's a nasty habit to get them into, but man... I went for a walk down there a few weeks ago and was astounded that I could get them to perch on my hand if I just held it out to them. At one point I looked like something out of a Disney film - I stretched out my hand and a dozen little birds flitted about me cheerily. I half expected them to start darning my socks.

Anyway, they're pretty darned cute and I certainly enjoy watching them, so Layne and I strolled along and occasionally stopped to be mobbed by hungry little birds. The entire walk was, as usual, punctuated by me going, "Oh! Hoary Woodpecker!" and "That one, over there!! Are its wings barred???" and flailing at some nearly invisible bird off in the bush.

Tonight - Hell to Pay. Mmm - yummy demon game. I plan to wear something a little comfier this time, as it will be held at someone's house and goddammit, I want to be able to climb stairs. My other costume, fun though it is, is not made for doing anything more strenuous in than a brisk walk.

Post #13 - In Which Alina does Layne's nails and talks about costume stuff

Yesterday, being November 1st, was a good day to be a costume geek. I took full advantage of the post-Halloween bargains, and got a whole bag of goodies with which to supplement or add to my Tickle Trunk. Strangely, they had no carts or baskets in the store, so when I showed up at the counter with a full armload and a jack-o-lantern filled with creme makeup dangling from my wrist, I think I made the day of the girl at the counter.

I even managed to find several bottles of liquid latex, which was good, because the order I'd placed earlier this month didn't come through. The supplier, unfortunately, didn't have the neutral fleshtone I needed in stock, and hadn't updated the site. I got my money back, and made sure they knew of my displeasure at having to wait nearly a full month to hear back from them, despite my several emails.

The latex is for a pair of gloves for Layne. We're making some creepy clawed latex gloves, similar to the ones I made for my Ifrit costume. I'm hoping to take a few pictures of the process, because I want to make a tutorial. I had to figure the darned thing out on my own, and there's a few things I've learned.

a) It's easier to sculpt something on someone else's hands (duh)
b) Latex gloves worn underneath make removal of the sculpted claws a thousand times easier

Tonight I sculpted the claws on his left hand. I use the bone-colored sculpey, and then bake it until it starts to brown. It makes for a nice, natural looking claw color. Then, I put a few coats of clear nail polish over top to give it some sheen and to keep it from chipping.

Tomorrow - the latex gloves themselves, which should be nicely cured before Hell to Pay.

Also, tomorrow's my birthday, so I suppose that there may be something involving cake.

Ok, this is bugging me.

I found this article on the Herald Sun. It claims that the revolving image can be interpreted as spinning both clockwise AND counter-clockwise, depending on how you look at it. Apparently, left brain thinkers see it spinning counter-clockwise, while right brain folks see it spinning clockwise. But, they also claim that it's possible to switch the direction she's spinning while you watch it.

I've tried. I've tried a lot. Hell, I've sat here for the last ten minutes, watching her revolve stubbornly clockwise, and the only thing I'm getting from it is that whoever animated her certainly didn't have their xy axis locked. Maybe that's where the trick lies?

I'm usually pretty good at these optical tricks. Magic Eyes don't phase me, and those concentric circles spin pretty damned fast. But this one? Can't do it. I can't even puzzle out the logic of how the illusion would work. I just see a poser model, spinning clockwise. Maybe my left brain's broken?

LINK! : Right Brain vs Left Brain

Big Things from the last week:

Tuesday - Submitted my portfolio to Bioware. I am not by nature a nervous or superstitious person, but damn. Until I hear back from them, I can see a lot of nail-biting and crossed-fingers in my future. Here's hoping.

Thursday - The day of wandering. Spend several hours killing time in South Edmonton, due to the fact that no buses run anywhere remotely near where I had taken my car in for repairs. It was frustrating not being able to catch up on all the comics I need to draw, but it wasn't a total bust. I got to check out an awesome costume shop and restock my stash of nifty costume-y things, and I spent nearly a full hour in the pet shop talking to the budgies and watching the pile o' ferrets sleep. (Not as boring as it sounds - they move like crazy even while sleeping!) The afternoon was capped off by sitting in Chapters, drinking some really excellent white tea and reading Anansi Boys.

Friday - Dave & Quinn's birthday/Halloween party. Full of awesome. There was some great costumes all around, but I was mostly just glad to get a chance to hang out with some awesome folks. Helo and Ajax loved their cat tree, and spent the entire evening pasted to it. Later on in the evening, I got to try out D's karaoke machine. I approve.

Saturday - The Second-Last Inheritance Game. Shani, Layne and I headed out a little later than we would have liked, and so I got to drive very, very fast in my newly tuned-up car. The game turn-out was pretty low, thanks to Halloween parties and the like, but it was an amazingly heart-wrenching game none-the-less. I expect that next month's game will be even more spectacular.

Sunday - Had breakfast at Traegers before hitting the road. Discovered that red cabbage for breakfast is a fine thing indeed. Drove like a maniac all the way back to Edmonton so that I could finish Monday's comic. Swore to rebuild my buffer. I can't understand how so many webcomic artists can work without a buffer. It sucks. It sucks a lot.

As suspected, the art-blockage cleared up after a hot bath and a good night's sleep, and things have been going smoothly the past two days. Tonight, I sat down and pulled together everything I have ready for my portfolio. It's looking good, but it could use a couple more pieces to really flesh things out. I want to show that I can do good weapon and vehicle designs as well as the more standard character and environment stuff.

These are my favorite sketches from the past few days. They're still works in progress - the greyish bits haven't been colored yet, and I might still do a little more shading on the jungle piece.



Also, I got some awesome news today! Season One of Wapos Bay won the Gemini award for the Best Children's Program!! Dude! They've won a Gemini before for the pilot episode, which I didn't work on, but this time, it's for stuff I was a part of! How cool is that?? The awards ceremony will be in Regina, the day after the next Inheritance game... It'd be cool if I could swing it to get down there and attend them, but the logistics for something like that is making my head spin, and I'd have to check and see if they'd even have tickets for me.

Besides, I have to be back in town on Monday to drop off my portfolio.

Hit a bit of a brick wall today while trying to do a few more environments to pad out my portfolio. For some reason, I was completely incapable of proper perspective today. And I'm not talking about complicated, 3-point perspective or a picture with objects that require multiple perspective points.

I mean, I could not, for the life of me, make a simple cube.

Ok, ok, so it wasn't that bad. But it was sufficiently frustrating that I started and discarded 3 sheets of good paper and 8 pieces of scrap before abandoning it for another day when I was less artistically brain-dead.

Spending some time with Layne after dinner helped get rid of the frustration. A hot bath with mango-scented bubble bath got rid of the lingering stress.

I'm taking the rest of the night off, as I suspect that a certain amount of hormones were involved in my lack of creative mojo. (Stupid hormones... They've stopped trying to alter my moods, having given it up long ago as futile, and now they're attacking my art. How low will they stoop?) I suspect that I will curl up on the couch for a few hours with a good book, and by tomorrow everything will be going great again.