On the Pole

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     Pole worker and friend. 

     Happy New Years Eve everybody! Have fun and pretend like your steering wheel is covered in slimy bacteria that infect you with a deadly contagious disease if you touch it. You'll DIE if you touch it.   But it only appears on your steering wheel on New Year's Eve. It's magic, you see. 

Down To The Minimum

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     By backpacking standards, it seemed like a lot. But by the standards of, "I live in America, and this is everything I own", it really wasn't much. 

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The View From Here

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Caveman

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Twas the day before Christmas and it's raining! But that's okay. It feels more like winter now. 

I'm busy with "elf stuff" for my kids, but luckily we aren't going anywhere or seeing anyone. All of the social commitments are done. Now it's all about relaxing and working on a freelance storyboard that I picked up from a guy I know. 

I don't mind working over the holidays if I *choose* to work over the holidays. And this freelance job will pay for our solar panels, which we've been wanting to put on our roof for a few years now. They aren't cheap, but once they're in, it's a whole lot of free power, when the sun shines (which is pretty much all of the time, here in Southern California). 

It's free energy if you can afford it. Which is kind of…yep. In this world you really don't need rooftop panels that are powered by the sun. What you really need are rooftop panels that are powered by irony. 

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Cello

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Today is the last school day / work day of the year.

Whew...we made it.

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Yarn

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Recline

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Ta-dah!

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Tailor

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Crazy Christmas season rolls right along. 

Today I've got to post all of this stuff, then do my usual 16 mile bike ride, 

But then after I shower off in the gym, I've got to build a couple of animatics for a crew pitch (crew pitches are the "big" ones), pitch the show -which is a 22 minute episode with three different breaks for quicktime movies [gasp], 

Go to the party/gift exchange/potluck (crap! I still haven't got a potluck thing…maybe I'll run over to Trader Joes at lunch). 

Then at 5:00 things will slow down with a bit of star watching with the astronomy club of Santa Clarita (not that I have to haul myself up there…they'll be down in the Disney parking lot so I can just walk over).

Then down to Little Tokyo for the "Black Christmas" art show (where I have an original piece up on the wall). It's at Q-Pop, if you're local and want to see it. I'll probably meet my older girls down there. They love those art openings with all the creative folks. And we usually grab some sushi first. 

Hopefully I won't fall asleep into my sushi. I think that's bad manners. 

And all the while I'm going to have a song by The Weakerthans in my head. "Aside". I cannot get it to stop playing in my mind. Crazy. 

Gotta run! 

Bye! 

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Igloo Town

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    Today is 12-12-12. Even in jolly old England (where they switch around the month and day). Had I known this ahead of time I might have done a piece with a "dozens" theme (I'm thinking crates of eggs). But- I didn't realize until it was too late. 

     In 2022, please remind the 55 year-old me to do a piece on February 22nd that actually matches the day (it will be 2-22-22 on that day…at least in America). 

     In other news: Chistmas rush + deadline rush(es) make me crazy. 

     And yesterday I went to a graveside memorial service for my first boss at my first animation industry job. He was 49. Cancer. 

     Reminds me to live every day to it's fullest, and to take care of myself. There are rewards for such behaviors. 

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Bang!

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The purpose of a warrior is to fight. The duty of a warrior is to be ready to fight. The reality of a warrior is to constantly train for a fight. 

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Happy Children Cookie Company

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My piece for upcoming group show at Q -Pop: Black X-Mas Christmas Party / Horror Art Show, Dec 14 (not tonight, but NEXT Friday)

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(Q-Pop is in downtown Los Angeles in the Little Tokyo district, for all you local folks).

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Thumbnail Cat

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That little cat on the bottom was all about me exploring how small I could go and still have a pen and ink drawing hold up. It's scanned against a scrap piece of blue jean denim twill for scale. The actual cat can hide easily under my thumb. 

Tomorrow I'm going to go the other extreme and post a really big piece that may not work in this digital realm (too many details that are spread out too far). But we'll see. 

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King Sneakers

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Smaller

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I get busier and the daily drawings get smaller. And a little less frequent. 

But they still happen. 

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