I'm just off this week

Damn it's HOT!

HOT HOT HOT

We took the dogs to petsmart last night when angela got home so they could spend at least a little while at a comfortable temperature. They seemed to really enjoy it and Nisa's ears and nose returned to their normal color for a while.

When she gets really hot her nose, and the insides of her ears, start getting darker and darker in color as she gets hotter and hotter. Last night the insides of her ears were almost purple. Poor girl.

Yep. FAll can start up any time now. I'm ready for clouds, rain, wind, cold.

--Abe

Belated monday comic

I got busy yesterday and completely forgot to post the comic!

I both suck and blow. My sincerest apologies to anyone who was waiting with baited breath for the new comic.

Since we are mmo-less these days I've decided to go back and play a bunch of the old games that I never finished or couldn't get in to before.

I played Civ IV for a while. The "tutorial" took me 4 hours to play through! I'm kind of terrified about how long a real game will take! I've never played a civilization game before though. It was fun.

Then I tried to play Homeworld again. I got to about the forth or fifth mission and got completely creamed. I really want to play the game though so I decided to play some other RTS games to learn the genre before I go back to Homeworld.

Which led me to Warcraft 3. I've played through the tutorial and the human campaigns and have just started the undead campaign. I'm really enjoying the story and the game itself is a *lot* more forgiving than Homeworld.

I've got another short story done and Laura gave it the go for graphicnovelization after reading it. So that's my project for today. It's about 25 pages long in short story form and it's going to be a pretty hefty graphic novel script when I'm done. Luckily, it uses a lot of the same characters as the story she is currently working on. So, that will save a bunch of development time.

Still unemployed. Still no calls or contacts.


--Abe

Friday comic day

And Arthurs day continues. This is really what it's like too. The stuff that seems to take all night to do when you work all day is finished *way* too soon when its all you have to do.

And, when you look for jobs every day, you can get through all the new listings on 20 or 30 websites in just an hour.

I really understand why all those housewives in the 50s we're doing speed and drinking constantly.

I went to the job source office a few weeks ago to see if they could help me find a job. They told me the single best way to get a job right now is through your friends or family. Which is great except I don't really have any friends and I don't speak to my family. Also, I'm not eligible for worker retraining because I didn't work as a contractor long enough. I did, however, work as a contractor long enough to not be eligible for unemployment. *sigh*

On a brighter note, well, I'm working at learning latin so I can get my bachelors degree finished. It's a months long project but, at least I'm going to come out of this time of unemployment with something to show for it other than an expanded waistline and a preternatural ability to get stains out of a toilet bowl.

Woot!, as Angela would say. Those of you that know her, know that no other person on Earth is capable of putting as much sarcasm into the word Woot as Angela. When it leaves her lips, it absorbs light. Birds fall from the sky. The sun hides behind the moon. Chuck Norris curls in to the fetal position and cries like a little girl. I grin like an idiot.

Also, damn, Master of Puppets is a great album.


--Abe

Finished Books

I have finished 3 books: Sacred Book of the Werewolf, Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told , and Sunset in Sunshine City. I got all three from the Greenwood library. Small, but whatever.

I had Sacred Book of the Werewolf on audio CD and listened to it on the way home. The story was interesting, but the book was a little more existential than I like. But in this case, you couldn't really have one without the other. It was written by Viktor Pelevin. At first I didn't mind the readers voice, but I almost couldn't finish it because her voice was so grating by the end.

Last night, I just finished Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told last night. It is a collection of the "most important stories" told for Batman. (I didn't realize this was volume 1 until I went to that link.) It is super corny, but typical of the era. (I am watching TV and Tim Burton's Batman Returns just came on!) I actually liked it a lot, though some of the corniness was a bit too much for me. It definitely reaffirmed my love of Batman. I always feel silly when I tell people he is my favorite, but I think I might be in an actual minority. Sure people like Batman, but almost every time I tell someone I like Batman best, they tell me they like Spiderman best. But as a pointed out to Abe, Batman is better because he CHOSE to be a super hero. Spiderman is just some dumb kid who accidentally got bit by a radioactive spider. And then he was cool enough to get a girlfriend, which is when I realized that was why all the dorky guys I talked to laughed and said they like Spiderman better. I bet most people's favorite superhero is the one they most closely identify with, consciously or not.

Anyways, I also read Will Eisner's Sunset in Sunshine City, a collection of graphic stories. He is very good at layout. Most of the stories didn't really grab me, but I did certainly enjoy them all. For some reason, I can't find a link to this book and it is one of his more famous ones. Hmph. Maybe I have the title wrong?

I have also started reading Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art. This book is very interesting. Will was a great writer, I think. He sounds so smart and eloquent, which I didn't expect in a graphic novelists writing. But I didn't expect it because he spent so much time creating amazing stories through illustration. Just because you can tell a good story does not mean you can write. The book also has a lot of great illustrations. Comics to help make the point. Having little marks to point out what they are talking about and why he chose the things he did really impresses me. I am quite enjoying the book.

Soon, I should also finish Golden Compass. I am really enjoying it. I just get so busy. Maybe this weekend since my brother backed out and is not coming down to watch Harry Potter. I guess I will just go watch that by myself or with Abe.

Also, Abe sent me a link to this site: notalwaysright.com. OMG. I seriously laughed myself sick at this one and this one. I think anyone who has any remembrance of working in customer service will enjoy that blog.

In craft news, I am slowly working on the latest Rockin' Sock Club kit, but I am not enjoying it. This is my least favorite of the kits, both the color and pattern. Though at least I figured out how to do the cable without rearranging the order of the stitches. I am also spinning up some great Corridale from Spunky Eclectic and the color is...and no I am not kidding...Monkey Farts! It was the color of the month so it was on sale. I love it. The fiber and color is great. I will post pics someday.

And for the drawing class, we went over shadowing and hands last Saturday. Hands are frick frackin' hard. And his only advice was to just keep trying. Draw a lot of hands. If I didn't have as much drawing experience as I do, I would have found that very frustrating. But I did learn how to draw better people already because I got to watch him draw a person on paper. And paid attention. Just watching that was worth the whole class. I think that one piece of learning will make the people I draw so much better.

Edited: So it is called the Will Eisner Reader, not Sunset in Sunshine City, which is just a story in the book. I guess that would explain why I couldn't find it.

This is my life for the last seven months.


--Abe

Loooong weekend

The on-going saga of Arthurs unemployment continues. Today we see the the morning of Arthurs first full day of unemployment.

Angela and I played City of Heroes all weekend. I mean ALL weekend too. I have about ten characters now ranging from level 10 or 11 all the way down to level 1.

The game is really fun. Character creation is amazing. There are tons of features that make it friendly to casual players too, like leveling pacts, which basically ensure that two characters stay identical levels. And an excellent map, a good way point system, the ability to "call" an npc after you've finished her quest rather than trek back across the map just to turn it in.

Laura sent me a nearly complete first draft of the first graphic novel this weekend as well. I got it about mid-night on saturday and me and Angela looked it over quickly before heading to bed. I had dreams about it that night. Laura's layouts are great. The characters are detailed, life like and individual. In a lot of comics, that aren't super hero comics, you really need to pay close attention to see the differences between the characters but Laura draws our characters so lovingly that they just leap off the page.

I am extremely excited, as I'm sure you can tell. Here's hoping that it will be relatively soon that you'll be able to go to your local comicbook shop and pick up a copy of it.

--Abe

Comic Wednesday

Episode two in the ongoing saga of Arthur being unemployed. Now with 100% more violence!

We've been watching Chuck lately. What a silly, funny show. We sit and laugh our butts off during almost every episode. I whole heartedly recommend it.

--Abe

Art class and FO: Fraggle Squiggle Socks

I enjoyed my art class. We just really learned about proportions. The Greek started with 8.75 head people. Then the Church said you couldn't look at people so it got all screwy. Then came the Renaissance and they looked at the old Greek art for a basis, but they realized they should just measure people. So they went to the villages and measured all the strapping young lad and ladies and they were 8 heads high. Then later they realized they should measure regular folk and they were 7.5 heads high. So, because it is easier to learn, we practiced 8 heads high: chin, nipples, belly button, crotch, fingers, knees, bottom of calf, and of course feet. So we have an assignment to practice drawing that for the next class.

So I measured myself and my head is 8.5 inches. At 5'4", I am just more than 7.5 heads high. I thought I would be closer to 7 because my head is pretty big. I got one of those shirts from Kellogg's for Star Trek. The head is really tight. I can't pull it over my head with my glasses on like all my other shirts.

So this last weekend I finally finished the Fraggle Squiggle Socks from the Rockin' Sock Club.




















The second one took forever, but I made it. The Kitchener stitch on the second toe turned out a lot better. And again, there was enough yarn to make another kerchief. It looks great on my new black hair.




















The next one is coming really soon. I was hoping to get it today, but I should get it by the end of the week.
Also, here is a picture of the cardigan I gave to Jenai, my cousin, for her baby shower. I think she liked it.












And the final picture (for catching up), I made this elephant tawashi for Abe as a thanks for dying my hair twice in two weeks. Turned out pretty durned cute.




















In other news, I have some spinning to do. I ordered some Corridale from Spunky Eclectic. I am going to spin that up and then come up with something to make from it for the KnittySpin contest. The color: Monkey Farts! It is brown, natural, and yellow. Looks AWESOME.

This weekend, Abe and I had my friend Jen do a demo of Cutco knives. They look pretty sweet. We got a cheese knife and a bread knife. Apparently, all our knives are rusty. Yummy. But these two knives should be able to replace all our knives. I didn't realize how poorly our bread knife cut until I got back from the demo. We also got a steak knife. I hope to get a small set of the steak knives for Xmas for Abe and me. They should come in a month or so.

Also this weekend, I got to watch Ugly Betty, season 1. I love it. That show is just so awesome and weird and twisted and silly.

Anyways, I have a picture to post that I will probably put up on Thursday. This weekend, Abe and I are going on a virtual vacation to City of Heroes/Villains. We will start playing Thursday night...

Monday comic

So, things are taking a turn for the serious here in the world of Georgie and Arthur.

This is a series of comics that's currently about five long. There may be more.

--Abe

Friday comic time

So, I recently rediscovered my teenage love of Metallica. I've been listening to "Master of Puppets" and "...And Justice for All" while I do house work and write. I'm hoping to pick up a copy of "Ride the Lightning" and the black album soon.

I'm really enjoying Cliff Burton's bass playing. I love how, unlike most other heavy metal bassists, he actually plays his own parts rather than just doubling the guitar lines. The clicky growl thing his bass is doing on most of Master of Puppets is just crazy. And his melodic work is fresh and enjoyable.

I'm developing a new found respect for Lars Ulrich as well. His drumming original, inspired and interesting. I still hear things that he's doing that surprise me after hundreds of listenings.


--Abe

Dude in mud

This is that little guy I draw rolling in the mud. I kind of doodled this at work. He is awfully fun to draw. I am thinking of doing the 24-hr comic in September when I am taking a week off. I am thinking I might use this guy as a character. Though technically you are not supposed to do any prep work. But I have been drawing this guy for years. I first made up a much more stylized version of him in 9th or 10th grade in art class.

So Abe made some cookie dough the other day from the recipe on the back of the Nestle chocolate chip bag. They are pretty dang good. The funny thing is he is 34 and that is the first time he has ever made chocolate chip cookies. I baked that stuff all the time when I was in high school. Well, it cracked me up anyways.

I am almost done with the second Fraggle Squiggle Sock. I have started the toe and I think I have messed it up, but I am too lazy to rip back and fix it. It is just the toe and it will work out fine in the end.

This weekend, I am starting my Figure Drawing class with Nils Osmar. I am really excited. In the next month that I am taking the class, I will practice drawing the characters of a graphic novel I want to draw and write out the script. I have the very basic script, so I know the outline of the scenes I need to write, but I need to write the specifics. I am really excited because I think this class will give me the little push I need to start drawing people again. And probably better. I was never that great at drawing people. I have the Blues Lady painting for sale as a card on arachknits, and it is pretty good, but I think I can do better,

Belated 4th of July comic

Hope you enjoy it.

--Abe

What are these things you call car keys?

What a fun weekend. Friday we went up to mom's for lunch for Independence Day. We hung out for a bit. Then for lunch we had too much food. Abe made delicious Yankee cornbread from Abe's bread cookbook. Yummy. Mom made a Gigantic batch of potato salad (she makes great potato salad). She made even more for the five of us (Isaac was there too) than I made for the whole potluck at work on Thursday. She uses potatoes, mayonnaise, dill, eggs, salt, bacon. Maybe something else, but I can't remember. Sometimes vinegar. She also made corn on the cob (so Abe and I have been eating that for dinner lately, too - well, with dinner). And Jim made BBQ chicken thighs (yummy, but to fatty and they made me sick), and salmon. The BBQ was just Jack Daniels BBQ sauce, which is some of the yummiest BBQ sauce. The salmon was marinated in some homemade sauce of Jim's with garlic and brown sugar and something wet, but I have no idea what. Very delicious. And he made grilled zucchini. I had a bit of everything. I was so full I couldn't even eat dinner. Isaac was so hot (haha, they don't know the meaning of hot - it was perfect out after the heat of Seattle), he could hardly eat anything. Well, for him. He still ate more than I did.

Then we went to the pond to look for the muskrats. But we only saw one and just barely, so we went and look at the pics mom had taken of them before. Pretty dang cute. We also spent some time looking at LOLCats. Pretty funny. Then, of course, we played Boggle. Isaac took a nap, and Jim gussied up before his poetry reading.

And the it was time to go off to the poetry reading. I had ripped a knitting needle out of my project, so I needed to stay, but I didn't know where we were going. So Jim and Abe drove in and mom waited for me. I was going to drive us in in our car so that Abe and I could just head home. After a few minutes, Mom and I were nearly ready to go and then I remembered I hadn't brought my keys. Turns out those are necessary to drive the car. So instead of calling Abe (who didn't have his cell phone on him anyways), mom just drove us in in her truck and I would have to drive it back after the poetry reading and art walk.

Anyways, we got to the poetry reading and it was as much fun as a poetry reading could be. My favorite reader was an older gentleman named Malcolm. He had a big deep voice. And Jim's second poem was my favorite poem. The poems were all from a poetry thing where they gathered together and took turns writing lines on poems. They were in a neat bone exhibit at Mindport.

Then we went on the art walk. I think the Blue Horse Gallery was the first place we went. There is a comic book shop above it, but they were closed. Perhaps some other time. The Blue Horse Gallery had some fun stuff. They host a bunch of international trips. I would love to go on the one to Egypt. Or Ireland. There were some beautiful prints, though I don't remember the artist. On the way out, we ran into George Jartos. My mom has an old unfinished painting of his that I used to like to look at when I was little. It was weird meeting him after knowing that painting for so long. He seems like a nice fella. Pretty near exact what I had pictured. Then we went the the Wild Buffalo, a bar. I got carded. And there we looked at more paintings by George. They are amazing. I really like his art. So detailed and weird. Abe was not as big a fan, but it is just the kind of thing I like. I could look at it for hours it feels like. After that, we went to a couple other places, but I don't remember being as impressed. Abe liked a more modern one.

And then it was off to the Temple bar where we waited. We were meeting Jim and other poets and artists there. Well, mom and Jim were and Abe and I just happened to be there too. The service was awful. It is always awful when we go there. The food is pretty good when you can get it though. Mom and I were going to split a sundae, but it after 20 minutes I canceled the order. Abe did get his salad though. He said it was delicious. He made mom's night by giving her the tomatoes with mozzarella.

OK. So then we went home. And of course got home around midnight. Kind of sucked because first we had to drive back to mom's in the old truck, but we got to say good night to the very tired Isaac who had stayed at mom's to sleep before his 12 hours of work the next day.
Saturday was awesome and laid back. I don't even remember what we did.

On Sunday, I went to my cousin Jenai's baby shower. Best shower ever because she wouldn't let them plan all those horrible baby shower games. I gave her a cute little handknit baby cardigan in light green. Got a lot of 'ahs.' But then when another cousin and aunt asked me to move my car so they could get out, turns out I had locked my keys in my car!! So my super nice cousin Jenny very kindly drove me home to get the keys from Abe, who came back with us and drove home. It was really nice to hang out with Jenny. We had a good ride back. I just gotta get off my butt (or have less to do) and go hang out with her sometime. Hopefully, Isaac will get a hold of me so that for the 25th, when we go to see Harry Potter, we can also take some time to see Jenny. Maybe have some tea at the Village Yarn and Tea shop.

Also, the new AntiCraft is out. I actually like this one. The last one was all merkins, which I am not so into. But this one is all embroidery and I like a lot of it. In particular, I really like the Cthulu and veggies one and the rose on the apron. I think I might be making both of those.

Monday Comic

I was going to upload this one on Friday but we were up in Bellingham and I forgot to upload it the night before.

--Abe

An honest mistake really

After I drew this it occurred to me that bringing a bottle of milk to a "MOO-Aholics Anonymous" meeting is like showing up to an AA meeting with a six pack in hand. Ah well.

Apparently Arthur has some sort of video game addiction problem.

I'm spending my time these days learning as much as I can about starting and running a small business. My goal is to use the unfortunate circumstance of my months long unemployment to start a business that might eventually support both Angela and I.

Listening to Pink Floyd and baking some chocolate bread at the moment.

--Abe