Hey kids! The way late comic is posted as of the timestamp on this entry! I'll post a new one tomorrow as well!

Well, I used a different pen for lettering the lastest strip. I hate to admit that I think it's better, because that pen isn't as comfortable in my hand. YOu have to hold it perpendicular to the paper. Cramp!

Also, I have decided more or less not to wait until I can perfect the automatic update script, and just finish designing the "full" version of the site. I've html-ed carefully enough to put the scripts in when I get them done. So as soon as free time will allow, everybody will get to see the great new Fresh Fish website! Yippee skippee!

I forgot to post about this yesterday. The official name of the new comic strip is Fresh Fish, perhaps the most nonchalant of all the entries to the contest. Soon and very soon I will have a logo designed for the website. Any of you are welcome to add your design efforts to the mix there.

Hi everybody. I thought this was worth posting about here.

I'm in this ongoing conversation ne of the gals who gets my update e-mails on the comic about the girls. She says that the girls "look like soccer moms" and describes their clothes as "super dowdy". I asked her for some more specific information, and she gave it. This is not a small issue with her.

My question to anybody who reads this is: What are your impressions of the girls? Their general appearance, hair, clothes? Do you think about or notice it? Tell me what you think; this is becoming more and more interesting to me.

I may not have mentioned this, but the comic strip is updating on a Monday & Friday schedule. That means I'll upload a new one each Monday and each Friday. Which means on good days you'll be able to visit the site on Monday and Friday to see a new strip, and on bad days you can visit on Tuesday and Saturday to see a new strip.

Also, you can read the last two posts for the full effect of my updating madness.

A couple of you have commented on the current "storyline". So this is here as a warning: I'll be interrupting it for one update to post the Halloween comic.

This is the oldest storyline I've got. I draw a new version of it every time I redesign the characters and try to get a comic strip together (this is my most successful attempt, by the way). Only this time, I'm actually rewriting it instead of just redrawing it. I'm also putting it here because it's a pretty long storyline. A few people were kind of antsy even after the first 10 strips for a storyline that will showcase the characters rather than just one-shots. So I decided to do a long one.

I kind of had (have) some reservations about that, because I only update twice a week right now. So a story that takes 8 strips to tell comes out to about a month. A typical continuing storyline in, say, Foxtrot or Calvin and Hobbes or Peanuts takes about 2 weeks (12 strips) or more. So, I'm trying to find the balance of reader attention span.

On a more pragmatic note, people have kind of stopped submitting names, so it's time for me to pick one from among the ones my friends and I submitted. So! This is your last chance to have your opinion count. If there is a particular name here that stands out to you as the best, drop me a comment here or an e-mail here and make your voice heard. (It's not a democracy, but I'm suceptable to peer pressure.) I will pick one, and when I post the Halloween comic, I will also update the site and this blog with the name I picked. From there I will design a logo, and the actual, factual comic strip website that I don't necessarily have to update manually, and which archives the individual strips so you don't have to scroll through 2 pages to see what's new, isn't far off.

OK, update on the lack of comic. As I mentioned, I was scanning some stuff (pictures for a wedding) into the computer for a friend rather than updating the comic. The original idea was that I would scan most of yesterday evening and then update the comic then, but we found out that it would be much simpler for him to just borrow my scanner, hook it to his laptop, and do all the scanning between yesterday and Thursday. So Friday I'll update 2 comics for the price of one. Sorry 'bout that, everybody.

Due to yesterday being eaten up with the wedding and today being eaten up helping someone scan a bunch of stuff, I won't be scanning my comic 'til I leave. Marking the first time I've been late on a deadline. But I have it drawn, and it'll be up ASAP. RIGHT.

...and it's not even Friday yet! But I also put the .zip files there to download for anybody who wants to color their versions of the strips or characters. So there you go.

Well, so far so good. I've had a lot of feedback from the e-mail and ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of it has ROCKED! Or ROXXORED! Whatev!

If YOU haven't seen the strips and commented, See the last couple weblog entries here and DO IT!

Now to the actual reason for posting, without unnecessary capitalization: I feel pretty good. I'm on a good schedule for updating on Friday's and Mondays: Monday's was in on deadline and Friday's is already finished. So, that really wasn't worth a post, but I went so long without that I thought that that would be good.

All right, everybody. I sent an e-mail out ( here. )

The new site is up! So go visit! Then e-mail!

Just when you wondered where I went, I'm back with a vengeance!

Be there!

[	Current Location	|	Where my thoughts escapin'!	]
[	Current Mood	|	He was dead as a doornail!	]
[	Current Music	|	The thing I linked to on the other blog	]

Whoa! That’s a long time without an update! You’ll still get the strips by one Saturday or another.

OK, this blog seems to quickly be turning into a chronicle of my abysmal procrastination and failure, and this post will appear to be no exception. However, I am closer than ever to my goal and I am not unhappy.

The major reason I dropped into space is that comic strip plans have once again been retooled and delayed. This time the major reason is that Kara and I have retooled our finances, and some other things have temporarily taken the priority spot once reserved for paying for domain registration and hosting. It ain’t very much of a thang, though, because I am hosting the samples on an extremely free, slightly ugly but very functional website for your perusement.

Another reason for the delay is that my latest day job has begun – I’m substitute teaching. So far it is quite cool and I’ve been surprised at the number of contacts I’ve already met who may someday help me get a job teaching art. Who knows?

At this point, the comic strip, when it finally goes “live” will have a built-in backdated archive as if the strip started on September 1 and updated regularly from there. The strip will update on Mondays and Fridays, to begin with.

Marley was dead.

So, in short, I haven’t stopped drawing and website-ing… it’s just taking longer and you don’t get to see it yet. Please stay tuned!

[	Current Location	|	caffieienne! AAAA!	]
[	Current Mood	|	Don't know what to say.	]
[	Current Music	|	The Monkey Song - Animaniacs	]

Oh, WOW. Note to self - you may feel great, but after ingesting a large sweet tea from Chick-fil-A is NOT the time to try to start drawing if you are affected by caffeine as much as I am. My hands are shaking, so it'll have to be done later. But for right now, I'm scanning some art in. Once I figure out some computer stuff, I'll be putting it out for you guys to look at. Let's say... Saturday.

In other news, I visited my friend Austin Mullins' blog and from there linked to some of his music. This guy is seriously good. I couldn't figure out how to post a comment, so I'm saying so here on the offchance he reads it.

[	Current Location	|	home	]
[	Current Mood	|	He's got a freaky voice.	]
[	Current Music	|	Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony - Shel Silverstein	]

Well, I had a good day today. Much of it was taken with some babysitting of my 7-month-old nephew. But whilst he was napping, and afterward as Kara is working on school stuff, I got some things accomplished. I did zero drawing, but I did manage to get a background and part of a menu totally done on my brand-new website design that totally rocks my socks off in Firefox, but so far kind of sucks in Explorer. I'll be finishing it up so it looks great in Firefox, then tweaking what I need to to make it work in Explorer.

Later this week is still when I'm planning to put some samples your way so you can help me name this turkey! And as soon as I figure out where I want to host it I'll let you have a peek at the site itself. I do like it so. So far.

PS - The title is a slight Schoolhouse Rock reference. How obscure can you get?

[	Current Location	|	guess where!	]
[	Current Mood	|	Yes it is!	]
[	Current Music	|	Three is a Magic Number - Bob Dorough	]

Well, I've done 2 so far today. By the end of the week, I'll be sending out samples and stuff.

Under other circumstances, a September 1 deadline for the website might have been pretty realistic. But now I think mid-September is more realistic. I have, however, gotten enough drawing done that I should be able to "back-date" some strips. Mostly because they have to do with starting a new school year, but I've also realized it might be nice for even the very first visitors to the website to have a few strips to get used to things.

The single biggest conundrum from here on in, however, is still slowing me down. I've never had a real great name for the comic strip, but it's gone through a couple of working titles that.. well, worked. The last one was my favorite, but a web search revealed that someone else already had a similarly-named comic strip. Well, OK, they had the very same name with a space added. The problem was that the name suggested a design theme for the website, so now I'm starting from scratch on two fronts. I'll be able to surmount the website design OK, but I am hornswoggled as far as a name for the comic strip.

With the samples I send out, I'll begin a more official solicitation, but if any of you guys are familiar with the characters, be it known that I want everybody's help coming up with a name for this thing!

[	Current Location	|	home	]
[	Current Mood	|	Bum bum, Ya-ha, yes indeedy!	]
[	Current Music	|	The Dinky The Owl Show Theme Song	]

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to The Dinky the Owl Show. I'm Dinky the Owl, and with me as always are Stupey the Squirrel and Fred the Lizard."

If my calculations are correct, today is the 10th birthday of The Dinky the Owl Show!

When we were all in high school and junior high, Austin Mullins, Rich Frazier, myself and later Rhett Swarb contributed hours of wackiness and fun to a "radio" (audio tape) show which we used to pass the time on long car trips at Scout Campouts.

It is still my back-burner goal to one day bring the show to more than 6 people. This is relevant to the comic strip only in that earlier this summer, I decided I would go for either the comic strip or the Dinky show, and make a move on the other one sometime in the next 3 years or so. I chose the comic strip because I could do it myself without burdening (or depending on) anyone else, which has certainly never been true of Dinky. But mostly I just posted it 'cause I think it's cool.

By the way, I highly reccommend the 10th anniversary Homestar Runner cartoon, a new animation of his first appearance. And if you haven't heard Weird Al's new single, I find it highly amusing as well.

[	Current Location	|	home	]
[	Current Mood	|	busy	]
[	Current Music	|	Frank's 2000" TV- Weird Al Yankovic	]

What ho, everyone! Here are the characters in my comic strip! Many of you probably recognize at least a couple of them. I've had most of these characters since high school (Mac even longer), although a couple of them were added in college. They've gone through gradual changes (I hope improvements), and a month or so ago I did a bit of a redesign, changing the way I drew certain things. I'm not sure I'll use these exact images anywhere on the site (Michael Henderson is right - drawing characters smilng straight ahead on blank backgrounds gets old fast), but this is more or less how all the characters will look in the strips (sans color) ( with one exception. )

The character descriptions I think are in their final versions (meaning this stuff is what you'll read when you go to the "characters" page on the eventual site). So any opinions or thoughts on the character synopses or designs will be appreciated.

( Here they are. )

All in all, I'm happy. I got away with only one "'Splainin' Hand" and no one doing "The Point".

[	Current Location	|	inksville, USA	]
[	Current Mood	|	Workin' overtime (work out!)!	]
[	Current Music	|	Subliminal - TMBG	]

Well, today's task is to do one strip, as well as some illustrations for a story in a small Fort-Worth-area community newspaper. In the words of Gopher, "This could run into money!" (Leave me alone; can I help it if recent babysitting offered the perfect opportunity for watching Winnie the Pooh?) Since I'll be scanning those in, I may post some stuff up for you guys to look at and critique.

In other time-wasting news, This wonderful video almost manages to legitimize the most unlikely song ever to a brand-new target audience.