It's Gettin' Kinda Hectic...

I have so many irons in the fire lately that my head is swimming. I don't know where to focus my attention and that always drives me crazy because I end up shutting down and doing nothing. And that's not good.

There's my full-time job. That's a given but fortunately, I've lately only been working regular hours. (Knock on wood.) Suzanne's been working late a lot and since I'm doing the driving, that means I'm working late. But at least I can get some stuff done here while I wait.

I'm also gearing up to finish the patio project I started last fall. I've had a 9-inch deep, 15-foot wide crater in my back yard for six months and Suzanne and I are anxious to get that wrapped up.

I got the script to the second half of Christian and my PERHAPANAUTS back-up from Todd and I've been pulling together reference for that but it's high time I started drawing. (Boy, am I rusty.)

I've been getting offers for freelance work based on the cannonball I won earlier this month. I don't know how I'll fit anything in to my schedule but I'm loathe to turn down paying work.

A few months ago, I purchased the domain name for Mike's scholarship fund website and have an "under construction" page up. But there it sits and I need to get crackin'. I wanted to do a nice Flash site but my Flash skills are limited and I'm starting to think less is more. With Heroes coming up, I also need to start pulling together some fund-raising materials I have planned along with auctioning off some great stuff that some fine folks have given me in good faith. Aargh! I suck!

That brings me to my two labors of love. The things that occupy my every waking thought but I simply have no time for. First is a video project that I've been toying with for a while. I've been learning some new 3D software at work (We're slowly phasing out Lightwave and switching to Cinema 4D.) and doing some training on After Effects and Final Cut Express. This has me very excited (It's closer to what I always wanted to do.) but unfortunately, there isn't much use for these packages in my department yet and I tend to learn better by doing. So I've come up with something cool to work on with some friends that has me so excited I'm doing the "pee dance." It's fairly ambitious and may be a little expensive but I'm hoping to get some assistance from some talented and resourceful people. If I can pull it off (and I'm still in the planning/pre-pro stage), I think it will be a lot of fun and pretty cool. (Todd, Craig and Christian know what it is but they've been sworn to secrecy.) Wish me luck.

Second is the story I've been blathering on about. Mike used to joke with me because I always spent so long thinking about a project that someone else would beat me to it. And it's happened again. Not quite 2 years ago, I was working on the roof of my gazebo and I realized that I hadn't "written" anything in a long time and that most of my ideas had already shown up in other stories. So for fun, I started toying with ideas for a horror story. Within the hour, I had the skeleton of an idea for a story involving Dracula in a small town that actually had me excited. True to form, I've spent an overly long time letting the idea percolate and I finally have the makings of a complete tale. There were many reasons I chose Dracula but the most important was that, at the time, vampires were...if you'll pardon the pun...dead. People were tired of vampire stories because folks like Anne Rice had taken all the fun out of them. They'd (here I go again) lost their teeth. Then, along comes 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and suddenly everybody's doing damned vampire comics. They're de rigueur again. Damn you to hell, Steve Niles!

The first one to kick-start my panic mode was IMPALER. I saw a cover focusing on the "Order of the Dragon" medallion the real Vlad Dracula was given and which features prominently in my story. My heart sank like a stone. So I picked up the trade that just came out and I'm about halfway through it. So far so good. If the story continues the way it's going, I don't have anything to worry about. The second book coming out (HARKER) wasn't as bad a jolt but I'm noticing an annoying trend of comics featuring Stoker's most famous character. I understand the ridiculousness in being disturbed by other people's use of a character I didn't create. It's a silly problem endemic in using public domain creations for your own work and don't think I haven't had a twinge of guilt about it. But Dracula as a fictional character carries with him a load of baggage and a history that is a requirement for the story I've written to work. Not to mention that medallion. I could have created my own "King of the Vampires" and it would have worked fine but anyone reading it would have just been thinking "Why not just use Dracula?"

Fortunately, my story is nowhere near what these other fine folk are doing. I'm off in a completely different zone. My story is a coming of age tale, more focused on a group of kids dealing with their own problems when things start going crazy around them. Dracula and his medallion are just, for want of a better word, my "macguffin." And, with my history, by the time I get around to actually writing it all out, vampires will hopefully be passé again.

The Northern Tour

Last week, Suzanne and I took a trip up North to see our friends Rich Faber and Todd Dezago.

We spent Monday night with the Fabers where they graciously put us up in their lovely home. We got to hang out with Rich, Traci and their adorable son Jason. It was a little rainy so we hung out at the house and stayed up late talking about this and that.

The next day we continued north to see Todd and Sharon. Again, we were graciously allowed to stay with Todd which saved us a lot of dough we otherwise would have spent on hotel rooms. We stayed for about 2-and-a-half days and saw the sights in rural New York. I'll be honest, I thought Todd lived in the middle of nowhere. But after our visit, I was surprised at how wonderful Todd's home is. He's surrounded by incredible views and lives within short driving distance of several great small towns. It was great to see where he rests his head and hang out for a while. Unlike Mike, I absolutely hate talking on the phone and it was nice to have a chance to talk with both Todd and Sharon (and the Fabers) without having a box stuck to the side of my head.

I don't want to bore you with every detail of the trip so I'll let the photos below do most of my talking for me. Starting in Pennsylvania, we saw veritable herds of deer along the side of the road. They were a breath-taking sight.




When we got to NY, Todd and Sharon took us on a tour of the Biltmore house (smaller than the one in NC, but very cool, nonetheless).









And finally, we fell in love with Todd and Sharon's local diner. It had the best diner food I've ever eaten and, best of all, incredibly good coffee. And the service was top-notch.





Obviously, Toonces and Charlie were thrilled to have us back home. See for yourself:

Cannonball Run. (Updated)

There's an organization in Richmond called the Ad Club. It promotes cooperation among the advertising community in Richmond. Though the agency I work for is considered a national agency, it's also an integral part of the local advertising scene. So, each year, when the Ad Club's "Richmond Show" awards are handed out, it's a fairly big deal for the agency. Before last night, I'd only gone to one of the presentation ceremonies and that was because the host was Mike Henry, a former copywriter at our agency and currently co-producer of FAMILY GUY. (He voices Cleveland and my personal favorite character Herbert.)

I work in the agency's Studio department, which is kind of like being in engine room of a cruise ship. We make the boat go vroom but nobody ever sees our faces and if things run smoothly, nobody's even sure we exist. So there's no real stake in the awards for me beyond company pride. Last night, however, Suzanne and I went to the ceremony on a whim. We got tickets through the agency and I had to be reminded several times during the week that we were going. There's another fellow in my department named Mark Brye who mentioned during the last hours of the work day that a pro bono poster project we did together (He as art director, me as illustrator.) for a local non-profit group (Homeward Bound) was in the running and that he'd see me there. I didn't think too much of it but said, "See ya."

Mark is a very talented guy and though we're in the same department, his job leans more toward Design and mine is more in the way of Production. But we're still in the engine room together, you know? Sometimes they throw us a bone and let us work on something fun. But mostly it's the big boys that get to play. So imagine everyone's surprise when Mark took home about twenty Cannonballs (awards) over the course of the night. I'm exaggerating but he really cleaned up and we were very proud of Mark and our department. This was kind of a big deal. Another happy surprise occurred when one of my best and longtime friends Paul Seward took home the Interactive Best in Show for a website he Art Directed. (I say surprise not because he didn't deserve it but because he's not usually an art director and did it on a lark.) But the big surprise came later.

The award show had run it's course (a round of bronze awards first, followed by silver and then gold) and our category had come and gone without our posters being mentioned and I was looking down to make sure I wasn't going to leave anything behind under my chair or something when Suzanne started clapping and squealing with delight beside me. I looked up and on the screen were our posters for Homeward Bound. We'd won the Best in Show in the Advertising category. BEST. IN. SHOW.

I couldn't believe it. I was so excited for Mark and then Paul grabbed my shoulder and said, "Dude, don't just sit there. Go up and get your Cannonball." Which freaked me out because I didn't think I they would have one for me and I didn't want to walk back to my seat empty handed. But Paul practically dragged me up there by my shirt and, well, see for yourself:



So. Anyway. That was pretty cool.

Have a great weekend. Later.

*************************************************

I forgot! Here are the posters we did. For a couple of them, Mark asked me to draw in an "old timey" comic style. Drawing in different styles usually drives me crazy because I'm worrying about matching a style and I'm not at ease but I think they came out okay. Hope you like them.

Errrrt!

Halfway through my Dana model sheet, I had the brakes temporarily put on my newfound enthusiasm by an erratic (and loooong) work schedule the last few days (including the weekend) but my enthusiasm remains. After all, I need something to take my mind off my new diet. I threw in the towel and am now trying to lose weight the old fashioned way. Exercise alone wasn't doing it and all the weight training is just putting on muscle but not taking off the other stuff. Two days in and I'm chewing off my fingers. It'll get better, though. It always does. I'm an old hand at this.



I did want to post, though, about my parents. A week ago, Suzanne and I met them down in Greenville, NC at the home of their lifelong friends Billy Wilson and his wife Betty. Both couples were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversaries and they wanted us to do it with them. Conveniently and happily, Suzanne's sister Jennifer and her family live nearby and we stayed with them. I'll be honest. I was sort of dreading the trip. For one thing, my back was finally starting to feel good again and I was afraid the drive down and a weekend in a strange bed would put me right back where I started. For another, I was also worried that another family milestone without Mike would put us all back into depression. The former turned out to not to be a problem at all. In fact, I came out feeling even better at the end of the weekend. The latter, while certainly on everyone's mind, didn't put a damper on anyone's spirits for long. Dad mentioned Mike's absence as one of his life's great regrets but quickly moved his speech to the group in a more upbeat direction. We all had a wonderful time, especially Mom, and it was great to get all the families together. And we're always glad to have a chance to see Suzanne's wonderful family.

The 10K came and went and we...well, we finished. I didn't want to risk messing up my back again by running. Frankly, I'm too damned heavy this year. I've put on a worrisome amount of weight since Mike died and it's taken its toll. Plus, I wanted to be with Suzanne. Usually we split up but this year we walked it together, often holding hands. My "chip time" took a beating (a half hour over my average time of an hour and ten minutes) but we had a blast.

Finally, check this out. As a child of the late '70s, this is quite possibly the most awesome thing I've seen all year.



Later.

Eamon

The other night, I was waiting for Suzanne to finish working so we could leave. Things have evened out a bit at work and I've been able to get in some training time on the various software packages I need to know, albeit self-teaching through online resources. My head was swimming after staring at my monitor for so long so I decided to take a break and try to bust through that artist's block I've been suffering from. I tinkered with a few things, not really into it and then it dawned on me. Why am I wasting my time drawing my fourth ROM illustration when I have a project to work on?

Excited, I grabbed a fresh sheet of paper, sharpened my Col-Erase pencil and it just flowed out of me. This was what I needed! I started doing character sketches of one of the characters in my story. (The working title, which will most likely change for various reasons, is THE HAMNER'S MILL HORROR.) His name is Eamon Ferguson and I think he may be my favorite character in the story. Actually, his contribution to the plot is minor but, for some reason, I've taken a shine to him. He's the most fully realized character in my head and his arc is the one I have most figured out.

One of the problems I've noticed with most of the stories I've written (yes, I've actually finished some) — and this is a crutch and the sign of a crappy writer — is that my main characters are usually based, in large part, on me. Which unfortunately means they're effing boring! I'm working on giving Johnny some more interesting, plot-related character traits so he's not just a cypher. You can spot those a mile away. My one complaint about the Harry Potter novels (which I loved) is that Harry was hard to root for. J.K. Rowling populated her stories with so many interesting, unique characters that Harry was just blah by comparison. Maybe she intended him to be an "Everyman" that the reader could identify with but personally, I'm still trying to figure out if I even like Harry. I don't want that to be the case with Johnny.

Though you wouldn't know it from his expressions above, Eamon's not a bad kid. He's what Mike would have called "a little firecracker." He's just an earnest kid who was full of joy and enthusiasm and spirit who suddenly has his world turned upside down and has to find a new way of looking at things. The one thing he thinks will save him is denied him and he'll do anything it takes to get it, including...well, hopefully, I'll write the damn thing out and we can all find out together. Eamon's the kind of kid that just says what's on his mind without considering the consequences. There's no firewall between his brain and his mouth. His good friends realize this but for others...

Eamon is based on a couple of kids I knew growing up, one of whom was and is one of my very best friends and has posted here before. I took a little bit from both of them, threw in a new backstory and some red hair and got Eamon. I like his first name but though I wanted an Irish surname for him, Ferguson is just a little...obvious. So I'm going to rethink that. Any suggestions?

Tomorrow, we have the 10K race to run. Or, in my case, walk. This will be my first time not running. It's a disappointment but my back is feeling better than it has in months and I don't want to mess that up. I've got to work the rest of the weekend so there won't be any recuperating time. Still, with all that going on, I'm hoping to get in some more sketches or even some writing time. I'm pretty excited again and would hate to lose momentum.

Oh, be sure to check out Christian's blog. He's posted some character sketches of his own. It seems we both broke through our blocks at the same time (though I think he beat me by a day or so) and under similar circumstances. Christian's got his own project in mind and I have to say, I'm pretty excited to see what he does with it.

Have a great weekend.

Odds and Ends

There's a bit of a new paradigm at work lately (departmental realignments, new responsibilities, longer hours) and it's starting to affect my life outside the workplace. I've been feeling really...disconnected in recent months. The economy has everyone on pins and needles and so I haven't dared to be seen surfing the net during work hours. It doesn't matter that I'm usually here quite late and fifteen minutes online will most certainly be made up later in the evening. Most of my time online is spent at home in the wee hours and, frankly, by then I'm not much in the mood. I have a huge backlog of emails to deal with. (I recently heard from a really good friend of Mike's...and mine...from college who just heard the news of his death and haven't had the time—or the heart—to respond yet.) And, worst of all, I don't think I've picked up a pencil to draw in two weeks. I've often referred to myself as a compulsive doodler (something my art teacher in high school called me) but lately...I got nuthin'. It's very disconcerting. Never in my life have I experienced this. There have been many times when I've hated what came out of my pencil and just wanted to give up. But I've never gone this long without the overwhelming urge to create something. Even just a head sketch on a post-it note.

Part of it is frustration at work. We're being expected to learn a lot of new software that I'm really excited about but we're not being given any training or even the time to learn it ourselves during work hours. Nobody has come out and said it but I assume they want us to stay after hours. Since Suze and I ride in together, on the occasions I don't have to work late, we usually run for our lives. And besides, there are so many other things I want (or need) to do on my own limited free time that the conflict is starting to drive me nuts. I think that, with all these demands on my time, I've gotten to the point where I don't want to face any of it and I'm just shutting down. Which is not good because now is the time I need to dig in my heels and start accomplishing as much as possible.

I keep hearing Mike in my head. Whenever I'd get like this and complain to him about it, he'd get frustrated with me and say, "You got a job? You got health benefits? And a retirement plan? Then what are you complaining about? Shut the *#@% up and do your job!" Then I'd realize he was right and laugh and take his advice. So I'll try that now.

A couple of bright spots. A new theater recently opened here in Richmond and they're trying something new. Since they're new, they installed digital projectors (something established theaters are reluctant to spend the money to do) and sound systems so the presentation is incredible. This is the theater at which we saw WATCHMEN. And, this past Sunday, THE MALTESE FALCON. I've always been a fairly big Bogie fan and FALCON and THE BIG SLEEP are my two favorites of his films. The Bow-Tie Cinema (as it's called) has something called "Movies and Mimosas" on Sunday mornings. As you can guess, mimosas are served in the lobby...no alcohol in the theaters...and then they show classic movies. This is my chance to see all the great old movies I've loved my whole life (like just about all of Hitchcock's films) but never got to see outside my living room. Not only that, but this sort of thing doesn't attract the element that ruins the movie-going experience for me. You know the type: people that don't want to see the movie but want to be seen at the movie, usually going to extreme measures to attract attention to themselves. None of that at M&M. Going to see FALCON with Suzanne and a theater full of people (It was a packed house!) who actually were there for the movie was nothing less than delightful. I hope they keep this going for a long time.

Also, Suzanne and I are nearing the end of our 10K training. I have to say that this year has been a bit of a waste for me. I haven't made any progress and have actually gotten in worse shape. Just walking six miles on Saturday laid me up for the rest of the weekend with aching hips and back. A bad cold and an endless series of back injuries really took their toll this year and I'm probably going to end up walking the race for the first time this year. That makes me sad but at least I'll get to hang with Suze this time. But one thing I have managed to keep up with is my weight training. I missed a couple of weeks because of the back problems but I've really made a point of keeping up with it. I feel like that's the one thing I can control these days. And though I'm not really in any better conditioning than I was in January, I'm a lot stronger. If I can keep my back healthy for a while, I may be able to accomplish something.

Okay, that's it for now. If you're a friend waiting to hear back from me, I'll do my best to do that this week. In the meantime, I'm going to make a deal with myself to not post until I have something to show. And hopefully that will be soon.

Later.

I Watch the Watchmen

I'm nursing a bad back and a recuperating wife so I'll keep this short. We had a huge tree limb fall in our back yard during the recent snow storm. (14 degrees one day, 80 the next. That's Richmond for ya.) It fell in the exact same place as another limb about three weeks ago, which I'd just cleared. Seems ground zero in our back yard is somewhere between the posts of our clothesline. While I managed to cut the last one up with a handsaw, this one required the chainsaw as it was about the size of a small tree. In the process, I managed to aggravate my already-sore back. Suze and I went to see WATCHMEN at the midnight show on Thursday night and we got there early. Four hours in a theater seat and my back was crying in protest. Follow that with three hours in a chair in the E.R. and, well...

Why the E.R.? Well, Suzanne had a...thing. I won't go into detail because it's kind of her business but it's nothing life-threatening and it happens every few years so we're used to it. She's perfectly healthy and happy. Suffice it to say I feel a little guilty because the midnight movie I dragged her to was probably a contributing factor. I'll know better next time.

Was it worth it? No, but it was pretty darned good. I hear a lot of people complaining that they followed the book too closely and people who aren't fans of the book won't like it. But you know what? If you aren't making the movie for fans of the book, who are you making it for? Yes, there are problems and yes, there are some things missing I would have liked to have seen included. But mostly these were minor tweaks that I completely understand the need for. The movie is already nearly 3 hours long and I understand that a lot of footage will be added in the DVD release anyway.

One of the minor changes relates to the story Rorschach tells his prison therapist. (If you've read the book, it's the scene with the dogs.) This scene was probably changed to avoid comparisons to a similar scene at the end of MAD MAX and it's not a big deal. What is a big deal is the ending. If you care, you've heard by now that there is no squid. I assure you, it doesn't matter. I was initially disappointed but after having some time to think about it, I think it's a better ending. (Oh, blasphemy!) It works in the context of the story and, I think, isn't as contrived or hard to swallow. And that's all I'll say about it so I don't ruin it for anyone.

If I was going to sum it up, I'd have to say that this is the movie comic fans have been waiting for. A movie that is much better and much closer to the source material than we had any right to expect. I've read the Sam Hamm script that was written for Terry Gilliam and THAT movie would really have pissed off the fans. This movie won't make the splash that the graphic novel did because that was lightning in a bottle. What it did for comics has already been done for superhero movies by BATMAN BEGINS, THE DARK KNIGHT and, to a lesser extent, IRON MAN. It would have had to have been made ten or fifteen years ago. And I don't think they could have made this movie back then.

Anyway, I highly recommend you see this movie in the theater. It begs for that kind of presentation. Besides, I want it to make money so it validates the faith the studio had in making it. I want to see more movies like this. (But, please god, no sequels, prequels or spinoffs!) Do NOT wait for the DVD.

Unless you're my friend Paul, who actually lives in a theater.