a little late, but happy new year to everyone. I'm unable to sleep at the moment, for some reason, so here I am. Christmas and New year's holiday went well, as holidays go. It was an incredibly short few days, splitting time between my family, some close friends, and new years celebration party things. I got in to DC on monday night, flying with Jetblue for the first time. The Direct TV was kind of interesting, and although it was fun to finally watch an episode of "Pimp my ride," I got tired of the TV fairly quickly. All in all, Jetblue was top notch, in performance. the snacks were good, the people were nice and actually introduced themselves which I thought was cool. The takeoff and landing were the smoothest I can remember in my memory of riding in planes. My mom and dad picked me up and we drove home to Richmond. They had put the tree up for my sister and I, even though we would only be there 3 days, which I thought was really nice. We celebrated Christmas the following morning, on the 28th, after some delicious waffles. It got some various neat stuff; socks, a candle, cash, my sis made me a quilt, the Star Wars and Return of the King DVD's... it was good. my gifts went over well too. We watched LOTR for most of the day, had a big dinner, and played some board games. The next day I went to visit Stevie and her daughter in Roanoake. I hadn't seen her in over 2 years, so it was great to catch up. Day after that,(the 30th) my family celebrated my birthday one day early. My dad got me a new electric razor (woo hoo!) I got some comfortable headphones for my ipod, and my sisters got me a shirt, and a year's subscription to Wizard. on a side note, I'm mainly writing this stuff, about what I did, and stuff I got, to remember who to thank, and to remember good times, because they were good times. It's not to brag about my presents or whatnot. the past few months have been a lot of hard work, and being able to celebrate without worry is great. anyway, later that day I went to the Richmond Art museum with Kim. It was great to see her again, as it had been about a year. We checked out a visiting Durher exhibit, which was pretty damn amazing. All of these intricate woodblock and etched prints. Fantastic stuff. the night ended with my family going out for a pre birthday dinner to Carrabbas (sp?) a very good Italian restaurant. on the 31st, susan and I took the train up to DC, then took the Metro to Maryland. a lot of Susan's college friends meet up every year at different people's houses for new year's. I attended last years festivities, and had a really good time. I tried to get some of my college theatre friends together, but only one or two responded, which was rather disappointing. perhaps in the future. But I had a great time with this bunch. We spent most of the day baking and chatting, playing games, and welcoming people as they arrived. at night we had a big feast, about 20 of us, including 3 babies. There were some skit performances, and some ludicrous dancing. We rang in the new year by eating 12 grapes for the last 12 seconds of 2004 (it's a Spanish tradition brought to the table by Susan's friend Dito). everyone went to bed pretty early. on the 1st, we all played some frisbee, then Susan and I left to visit another one of her friends. She took us back to Dulles, where we had a long flight back to Oakland, again on Jet blue. all in all, a good vacation. I miss my college theater friends though. I hope that we can all get in contact soon.

Tomorrow is going to be the first christmas I haven't spent with my parents... which means I'm getting older I suppose. I consider myself fortunate that I get to see them every year, and will get to see them in a few days. I know not everyone has that oppourtunity, and some that do, don't aprreciate it for what it is. I will get to be with my sister's family, and brother in law's parents, who are amazingly nice people. I also get to see the niece and nephew, which will be great!!! I'm good at playing with trains, as long as I obey the rules.... which is basically don't touch any train unless you are given one. my housemates have been kind of freaking me out lately,... well, one has, particularly. I really don't want to have to move again, so I hope things don't get weird. One of them just tends to lose his temper a bit, and granted he's going through some trouble right now, but I'm worried he might take it out on my dog, or me, and in general it's kinda distracting and unsettling.but, I did get all of them xmas presents, which I hope brings some karma into the situation. I also drew caricatures of some coworkers today just for fun, which went over well. Despite not being paid as much as my summer gig, Borders is going really well. The people I work with are super nice, and fun to interact with. And I'm still finding organizing and alphabetizing shelves generally plesent. odd? perhaps. I guess I just like that. Register still kinda stresses me, because customers tend to freak out sometimes, over things I have no control over like, the color of air or something. I'm just like "let me get a manager for you" and they continue to prattle on. whatever. I still like the store.I'm really jazzed about the gifts I'm giving this year. Don't really even know what I might be getting...it doesn't matter much. I just hope the people I got stuff for like the things I'm giving them. I got to get something for everyone special to me this year, having a little tad more money than the last few years... which just makes me feel good.still have a lot of work to do before I leave on monday, three comic strips, a few rough storyboards, and other secret projects I can't mention here.heh heh. happy holidays !

I love Frank Miller's Sin City comics. The harsh contrast style and
hard edge noir storytelling is amazing on paper. I kinda like some of
the stories more than his Dark Knight stuff. So it's very cool to see
such and amazing cast, directed by Robert Rodriguez and Miller himself,
in the film adaptation. I say adaptation, not interpretation, because
word is from several news sites that they're really making this close
to the comic. Shots right off the page. Dialogue transcribed. I'm sure
there will be edits and such, but it's good to see something faithful.
I know why they couldn't do it for superhero movies, sometimes you need
to stretch the reality too far. but This one, it's more than just a
comic. Sin City has it's own style.

Check out the Trailer here

thanks to Aerie for this link



very funny LOTR parody....

well, I got my iPod yesterday. and it was totally FREE! the free iPod site works friends. I will post a photo at some point to offer further proof, but I've been too busy putting all my CD's on this little monster to even think about photo transfers. This thing is so fucking cool. I gotta hand it to the mac guys, they sure know how to throw down the slick product design. it was so clean it made me want to vomit on it just to prove it could get dirty, and therefore, was real. So thanks to those of you reading this who signed up and completed the offer through my referral. I thank you thank you thank you. This is nice gift to myself for surviving a rollercoaster of a year.

recently, as in the last week, I've had some major computer issues. Thanksgiving was fun. I got to spend time with my sisters, brother in law, and nephew and neice. My neice, Madeline, is only 2 months...which is fun to try to use basic facial expressions to communicate. It's very primal and silly, and she was a little wiggle angel. Henry, my nephew is all about trains, he's like a parrot... repeating everything, and he's a lot of fun. I saw Super size me, which made me not want to eat at McDonalds for a while... or at least seriously consider new options. although I never get hamburgers there, and rarely get fries, I do like those chicken selects. those are yummy.when I returned home, my computer was running slower than it was running before. It was still running really slow, but I just passed it off as gas or something. At first, IE was running like molasses. then my scanner wouldn't scan. then I couldn't access my email through Outlook. after a few painfully long virus scans I found a few culprits, but getting rid of those didn't do anything. So, I spent another day backing up everything. then I got a friend of mine to go to work with some pliers and a blowtorch. We reinstalled XP, upgraded some programs, made my virus protection up to date, and made sure everyhting worked. that took about 3 days. So now, after reinstalling programs, I'm safely back to working condition. I'm a little less stressed out now. It's funny how everything just stopped because of this. I wonder how productive I really am when I can just shut down everything and devote all my spare time to getting something working. I've done it with cars, computers, even girlfriends. aw well. back to work.

tonight I got hit on by a guy at work. That's like, the second time that's happened to me in the last two weeks. I guess those highlights in my hair really turned out well.

i've been trying to print out a copy of an old ST strip, and upon multiple tries, and vast searching in all of my back up disks, I have lost all the high rez strips prior to 2003. the CD I thought they were on, and probably were on, was corrupt, and is unreadable. I went to kinkos to check Zip disks I had, but they only had the web ready .gif files. this is really bad news. If I ever want to do a print collection of the strip, I have to re scan everything again, retext, re format... eeesh. But, It might be for the best, as most of the files that I lost were not saved as tiff, but as high res jpeg, and only at 300 dpi. This is before I knew anything about how to save things, because I just never asked... or didn't know what was best. So, even if I did have them, I might have had to rescan everything anyway. this also gives me the possibility of re DRAWING everything, but I think that would be a bit extreme. as much as I like the idea of priting these strips out, this is a web comic, and maybe it's a sign that I've lost the first 2 and 1/2 years of material. this is a strip that is supposed to be on the web. prior to 2002, I was doing all kinds of odd formats, some vertical, some comic page layouts, some long long long. I had no idea, if I ever DID print it, how the hell it would work. It's not a problem now.SO? move on I guess. I just watched Fight Club recently, and it reminds me of what they say in there... "it's just stuff." this strip doesn't define me, and I'm more proud of this recent material that the really early stuff anyway. it means that any print collections will be limited to recent material or new material, but, maybe that's for the best. This is a web comic, and perhaps this is fate's way of saying "keep it that way."or maybe she's just saying "fuck you."

this is the third day in a row i've had a headache, but it finally went away today during shelving books, thank buddha.the first day I had a clorox headache. this was from cleaning the bathroom and using bleach and tilex and the like, because our house bathroom is filthy. Lemme just say, women? you can't complain about anything ever, because none of you (meaning none of the women I have ever shared a bathroom with) have ever cleaned your hair out of the tub/ and or shower drain. this not only provides an unwelcome chore for me, who has to clean it, but an unwelcome present to anyone who takes a shower, only to have a nest of nasty hair floating at their feet. you think it just disappears? another tangent to the cleaning. cleaning the bathroom was my house chore this week. My housemates and I have decided to break everything up into sections and switch every week. unfortunately, i guess part of my chore was to remind the others that they had to DO theirs because nothing was being done. no emptying of the dishwasher, no mopping or vacuuming, no sweeping. i got dry skin and a splitting headache. the second day, friday, I had a caffeine headache. I know this because I've fallen off the wagon and started drinking mt. dew again. I was going on nine months of little to no contact with the drink, then I had some late nights driving, leading to the occasional six pack of bottles, to buying it when I would go to taco hell, 12 packs, drinking it at friends' houses, etc. I am still drinking sprite, and making a futile attempt at switching even further to juice, but the caffeine that I had on wednesday, knocked me in the ass, combined with heavy clorox fumes, and caused me to crave something on Friday. I need to kick this stuff. at least it's not heroin. or cigarrettes, or everquest.the third day, today, I had a headache from stressing out. this weekend is employee appreciation discount days at borders, so naturally one wants to take advantage of such ridiculous savings, right? as much as I try to justify buying some of these things as gifts for myself or others, it's still money I don't have, and right now, I don't have a lot of it. i'm hoping this "job" will remedy this situation soon, but it's tempting to buy these things. I really wanted to snag the complete monty python flying circus series on dvd, which has been nagging me to buy it for 2 or 3 years. it's like, 150 bucks. I know I would enjoy it, but do I have that money to spend on that? no. I know that buying a lot of small things adds up to about the same amount over time, but it's all those individual things that make it seem more worthwhile, instead of one big thing...someday python... someday.my headache is currently gone, but there is one more day of uber discounts. i hate the temptation.

I saw the Incredibles tonight, a very different kind of Pixar film. I kind of expected it to be funnier than it was, but it was still very amazingly cool. it's a GOOD action movie, with some family lessons learned, and great acting by the voice performers. There were some great little nods to superhero films and comics, and although nothing was really original as far as powers, that wasn't the point. it was their take on working together in the family. Kinda like the fantastic four, except they're all related this time. It doesn't really leave the emotional resonance that Nemo or Bug's life did for me, but it's really cool and amazingly done, and I can't think of any other way a Pixar film could be.now if they'd only look at my application...

well, you can't say we didn't try. I'm not holding on to any hopes that Kerry will pull through, because the powers that be are powerful, and what's going to happen will happen. If he wins, great. if not, whatever. on a side note, I'm fuckin' moving to Canada.

my first eight classes of improv workshops with comedy sportz finished tonight... it was Level one of the workshops... level two starts in January, and money willing, I will be there.These workshops were interesting for me, as I used to be all about theatre in college, including singing and sketch comedy. Then in art school I just kinda stopped performing all together. I missed it. so when I got out here i started looking for people to improv with. that was bad. I found other people that didn't really know what they were doing either, and in a non academic environment, it was chaos. some were good, some were not, and the powers in charge bickered like they were five. I got out of that pronto. Later, I found a good improv class/performance in San Fran, it was a hassle to get over there, and it was all longform, which I didn't really get. there was no instruction, and it was intimidating. I was about to give up hope.when I moved to san jose, I found out about Comedy sportz just doing a web search, and went to a show. they were professional and good natured, and funny! and they offered workshops, the timing was right, so I jumped in. These workshops were a lot of review at first: basic acting skills that I was already familiar with, but it was good to do it again, so I wasn't against it and I didn't feel like I was awesome right off the bat. once we started doing exercises, geared towards improv, it started paying off. everything we did, from establishing where, who, and what was going on in simple ways, and then in scenework, was building gradually so that people with experience and people with NONE could learn. it was great. the class was small, about 6 people, so we had a lot of stage time. It's been fun to just perform again, even with no audience. I've learned to let down my guard during the improv process, which was always my big obstacle when I tried it in college. I was thinking too much. during this class, i've gotten better at just going with the flow of things... I still have a lot to work on, so I'm looking forward to the next workshop...

Happy halloween! I wish I had something more exciting to tell you, but it looks like I'm staying in tonight. at least I got the strip done early. Now I can watch scary movies... or... not.had a really Shittacular last day of drawing caricatures at the park yesterday. Lots of people with free passes = no money, right? well, apparently they had money, but none of my customers wanted to spend it. they were being very cheap, and although I did okay, I didn't do the numbers that I should have. Other artists did well. I haven't been doing well all month. My drawings were really crappy.This makes me rather cross.maybe it's just because it's the end of the season. I didn't really feel burnt out, but I guess it snuck up on me. Maybe it's because I was actually having a good time at my new job, while things at this old job seem to be somewhat isolating. I don't have many friends there, I usually eat alone during my break, and everyone there is in high school or thereabouts. The people that are my age, are my direct supevisors, and I sometimes feel like they don't want to get close as friends because of this. or maybe they just don't like me. who knows? Anyway, that job is done for the year, and whether or not I'll go back next year is going to be determined sometime in March.Susan, my sister and I, went to the comedy sportz show Friday, which was fun and funny. It was good to hang out with her, which we haven't gotten to do often since we stopped living together. We grabbed some quick burritos at this little hole in the wall before the show, and man, it was the best. wrapped in tin foil, all drippy with sauce, tender chicken... so good. speaking of, I should fix dinner...

finished my third day at Borders Books and Music today. Tuesday was my first training day on the floor. it was quite overwhelming at first... there are a lot of little sections and subsections to be familiarized with and it's going to take me a while to learn them all. So far I've been trained to use the search engines, do special orders, cataloging, book recovery (putting things back), and I got to organize all the Christmas cards yesterday. I also got trained a little in the cafe, to cover shifts. This was especially scary, since I know nothing about coffee, or how to make it. So I learned a little about that, but I don't know if I'm so crazy about lattes and mochas and all that stuff. THe people are generally cool, good natured, and have a nice sence of humor. And, unlike my summer job, they are actually closer to my age, and aren't all in frikkin' high school. all in all, I like it. I put in my vacation requests and got some days off for Xmas, none for thanksgiving (except the day itself.) so I don't know how that will effect my family plans... but we'll see.in other news, I've got one more improv class. I'll try to write more about that on Monday, as I want to remeniss about that a bit myself. I have NO costume for sunday. I was going to be SPIKE from Buffy lore, but couldn't find a cheap leather duster jacket. I want to try to pull off a Calvin and Hobbes thing, where I'm Calvin (easy enough), but then I need a Hobbes. without getting someone to walk around as a tiger, I need to MAKE one, and I don't know how I'm going to make a giant stuffed tiger. I could DRaw one, out of posterboard or something, but I just find that kinda cheap. Still, I'm not glueing socks to myself and going anywhere as static cling. hyuk... any ideas on how to make a large 4 ' tiger that looks 3D ?(I'm going for the stuffed Hobbes look, not the "alive" Hobbes.)

I found this on a Buffy LJ site... and it was too tempting.Buffy or Faith? BuffyWillow or Fred? WillowCordy or Harmony? CordyXander or Andrew? Xander, although Andrew got all the best geek moments in season 7Spike or Angel? SpikeGiles or Wesley? Giles, natchJoyce or Jenny? Ohh... Miss Calendar.Darla or Drusilla? DruLorne or Lindsey? Lorne!Eve or Lilah? Eve. Chip or Soul? HA. chipPig or lamb? Principal Flutie...I mean, pig.Jonathan or Warren? JonathanMost annoying character? DawnWorst character? ConnorFavorite:Buffy Episode? HushAngel Episode? Your welcomeBuffy Season? 2Angel Season? 5Buffy Plot? Becomming (1 + 2)Buffy Death? SpikeAngel Death? Wesley... that was disheartningAngel Plot? Power play/Not fade awayATS Character? GunnBtvs Character? WillowBaddie? the MayorBtvs moment? Spike and Buffy kiss (Once more with feeling)Angel Moment? Illyria to Wes "Would you like me to lie to you now?"Funniest episode from Angel? Life of the PartyFunniest episode from Buffy? SuperstarShips:Buffy w/: Riley (ooh I'm gonna get hit for that one)Angel w/: BuffyXander w/: Willow, HA!Andrew w: XanderSpike w/: AnyaCordy w/: Wes Dawn w/: no one Giles w/: Jenny.... ahhwwwWes w/: FredFred w/: GunnLilah w/: um... Satan?Lindsey w/: EveFaith w/: Wood (heh) Harmony w/: Warren... yeah Finally:If there was one thing you could change in the entire Btvs/Ats world: NO DAWN!

started work yesterday at Borders. had to fill out lots of paperwork and read the handbook twice. fun stuff. Once i get used to the riggors of the job, I think I might like it... problem is, I've got this other job that will start in mid November. I suppose if I like that one more, I could just quit borders, but the 33% discount fascinates me. Plus, I get sodas for a quarter. it's like, the 1970's or something.In other news... I hate T shirt designing.

so I hung out with Debbi, a good theatre friend from college last night. Much fun was had as we talked about new and old times, and sang Karaoke. I had never actually sang at a karaoke bar, and we were at the Mint, which is a pretty fancy one in San Francisco. By fancy, I mean they have an inch and a half book of songs to choose from, you can make a CD of your singing, several mics, a lit stage with fancy lights.... nice. I sang the Buggles "Video Killed the Radio star", narrowly edging out my choice of Free Fallin'. It got the audience going, and I think they liked my "robot". I beatboxed for Debbi on Lauren Hill's verson of "can't take my eyes off of you," but the best moment was when new friend Glen sang Journey's "Faithfully." Ahh, the power ballad.job hunt is down to two possibilities. Art store and book store. I'll know by Wednesday where I'll be working. I think both would be nifty, and I'm ready to start having an income again.

instead of drawing the comic last night, I ended up scripting ahead. it takes me forever because I keep going back and trying out new punchlines, revising pacing... envisioning how it all looks on paper. but I just finished today's strip... so that's done. yesterday I applied to Best Buy, Sears, Ikea, and two more art stores. I have one interview tomorrow. I also got offered the chimney sweep job... but I don't think i'm gonna take it. I thought about it for a while, and the fun aspect doesn't make up for the physical exhaustion that it might bring. plus, I'd have to get up in the 6AM hour... and that's just not gonna happen. So, I keep looking...Good news though! I got in touch with two friends of mine from different parts of my life, both of whom I had not talked with in a while. there will be much hanging out in the next few days, while I still have all this free time... which is a term I use looooosely.

my dog is getting kinda thin and boney, and her breath is awful. I guess that's old age for ya. Something we can all look forward too.no job yet.I watched This is Spinal Tap last night. Very funny movie... The first half was great, then it kinda gets too into the mock rock and roll and less funny. But still, very very amusing. I love the little stonehenge.I have caught up with all my commission work, which is good.however, the person that was designing my art website for me backed out, so I have that to deal with now. Wonderful.

had fun with changing a car battery today. not my car battery, but a friend's car battery. so that's good karma I'm looking forward to. I also had an interview to be a chimney sweep. No joke. it's good money. I'd have to get up WAY early in the morning though, so I'm not quite sold yet. I don't like NOT having any substantial income... it just makes working on comics and other things harder because I feel guilty. grrr.