To pass the time.

Bear sighting.

A few doodles

Being a working stiff with a newborn boy doesn't allow as much time to write and draw as one would think.  This is about all I've had time for lately. It's not entirely random, I'm just trying to get some creativity flowing again.  

More dog jokes.

Dog Jokes!...or do they?

Went camping this weekend!

A quick one. Let's see if I can build some momentum.

Any excuse for a loud outburst!

Happy Monday

Doodles!

Here are a few doodles I knocked out today.  I was at my parents' house the other day and found my old Redwall books. If you haven't read them, you really should. They're quite the thing for any young adolescent mind forming an idea of how the world works.  As an adult I now see all other people not as humans but as woodland creatures.  It inspired me to create this little drawing. You can interpret it as you wish, though I really meant nothing by it.

This one is a project I am going to start working on for a friend.  When it is complete I will share more.

Work, in Pictures

Got a new day job.  

Rome to Sora

This was on the bus after our first week in Rome, headed to the tiny country town of Sora.  Unfortunately, there was some mix up when we bought our bus tickets that became clear to us once we were on the road. When we asked for bus tickets to Sora the woman behind the counter must have thought we meant we wanted tickets that went kinda sorta to Sora.  Oh well. The driver and a few fellow passengers took pity on us and gave us directions to another busline that actually went there...but in Italian.  Eventually we found it. All ended well at the end of the day.

Coming Back

Well, people, I am officially back from vacation, back from my comic hiatus, back from laziness and procrastination.  With today's arrival of our new scanner comic making should be a lot smoother and a lot more consistent. So for the sake of starting back up again with any ol' thing here is a page from my journal that I sketched on the plane coming home.

I was ecstatic that we had as much room as we had on the relatively short flight from Naples to Munich.  I will forever be a fan of the German way of flying.  The other guy below was an American from Vegas we met in line in Naples, getting ready to check in for our flight. He had already checked in with Alitalia airline and thought he was line for security. (still don't have any idea how he could have mistaken the check-in for the security) He was already a borderline brusque fellow but he stopped holding back when he realized he'd wasted a good 45 minutes talking to us in line for Lufthansa.

Euro trip, WOO WOO

      Well, we're leaving for Italia early tomorrow morning.  It'll be our first time there and our last major trip before little baby boy comes so we are prepared to enjoy ourselves.  We are NOT prepared, however, to speak to people in their native tongue. It's kind of one of those things that got lost along the way as this day slowly approached.  We've hit the dock where our boat will sail and I pat my pockets and ask Jamie "did I give you the... basic Italian comprehension?" and she looks at me and says "NO, you didn't!" And then I go back and retrace our steps, picking up little scraps of travel information we dropped on the road, hoping and praying it will be where I assume I must have dropped it.
Ooo, ooo, is that it?
-No. Just the average summer precipitation for Sora.
Wait, what about that? That has to be it!
-Nah, that's just the History Channel dvd on Roman architecture.
So then my feet tire from retracing our steps and I hurry back to the dock as the boat's engine is firing up. Jamie's already on board. Too late to go back and find our ability-to-understand-Italian-language now.
     So, I've been thinking a lot about the ramifications of our failure to linguistically prepare.  And I'm also well aware that we'll be going in high-tourist season. And that may be a comfort to some, blending in with the crowds and staying safe beneath the wings of foreign culture.  But I can't help but feel a bit depressed that there's a greater chance of us being dismissed as typical American tourists.  Ehhhhh.
     So my plan, then, to avoid this shameful stereotype, is to lay low, take the side streets, and pretend I'm mute.  That's right. My ignorance of this language will only convincingly be concealed by my refusal to let ANY sounds come out of my mouth.  I'll just smile a lot and look upwards avoiding eye contact, as though I'm enjoying the birds or the roofs of buildings.  In shops or restaurants I'll draw pictures of what I'd like with a smiley face at the bottom.  It will be charming. No, no. It will. And if I'm good enough maybe I'll even hear "What a charming mute Canadian."

 

Another quick splash of fun.

You'd think it would be fun, no? But doesn't this always happen?

Mt. Everest has an inferiority complex.

I've been so busy working on bigger projects I've neglected my short comics. Here's one for you. Enjoy. I did.

Things been busy...and so have I! (Said in exaggerated excited voice)

I have a comic I'm working on. These are the first couple pages. This one will be longer...and for SALE!! Wait, wait, put your dollars away. It's not ready yet. I'll let you know and then we can rejoice together. (I'm hoping for this summer)

There have been developments...

It's been an eventful few months what with moving down the hill a bit, ending jobs, planning a trip, and...

...watching my son develop.  Look at that beautiful little boy!

Update!

I've edited a previous cartoon through some nifty cartoon editing magic. Here is the finished result! And in case you guys might be too lazy to scroll down...here is the original.

 I like the new one better. Thanks!

I can probably draw this weekly.

Geese in the Garden!

Isn't that classy?

Bubbles!

So after being on this good green Earth for 26 years I managed to pull myself together enough to blow my first bubble gum bubble. It was by no means the first time I tried, but it took some courage and maybe, yes maybe, just a little hope. And, well, as you can see, it paid off.
(I won't tell you how many other times that day I just ended up with spit on my chin.)

Way too much effort for this...

This is one I'm going to call "Took Way Too Long To Complete". I'm practicing with photoshop. Hopefully upwards is the only way to go.

Nothing's gettin this guy down!

Meet my new friend!

This is the bird who overcomes adversity.

Go Amtrak!

Got Fire?

We went to the beach!

I wish I was exaggerating.

Days like this

Man, I have all KINDS of fun at work.

Jake and Me vs. GiGANtic late night dog Part II

This took way too long to post. Let's pretend I did these both back to back. And while we're at it, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Jake and Me vs. GiGANtic late night dog Part I

Aquaman Vs. Illegal Whaling

Who will defend our seas and the majestic creatures that frolic within them?
AQUAMAN!*

(*thanks for the idea Cassandra and Ryan)

Iceman Vs. Global Warming

Who will win in the struggle between global climate change and environmental homeostasis?!?!

Wolverine Vs. Deforestation!

It's the epic battle between forest creature and arboreal destruction.

Fun with extreme temperatures.

So here we've got a depiction of a recent fitness experience of ours. I believe it speaks for itself. Enjoy.

Earthquake in Haiti

I'm sure everyone has heard by now about the 7.0 earthquake that recently hit Haiti.  I'm not going to rehash all the details because you can get them from much better sources, though at this point it looks like thousands and thousands have already died, but I want to offer some opportunities to respond and hope that they might move a few people to help that might not have considered it before.

The CIA world factbook has Haiti down as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere "...with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty." It's per capita Gross Domestic Product in 2008 was about  $1,300.  To contrast, the  per capita GDP for the United States in 2008 was about $47,500, and as of 2008 about 13% of Americans live below the poverty line. 

I'm no economist but that seems like quite the disparity. My hope is just that we as a mass don't let another disaster in the world dissolve into our collective unconscious simply because it's not disrupting our own personal lives.  I'm including myself here, as well. I hope that we can be creative in our response, and stubborn in our refusal to move onto the next flippant news story as soon as we've had our fill with this one.

Below are a few of the organizations sending supplies, aid, and workers to help in the relief efforts. I'm sure they can use anything we can afford.  

Donate:         World Vision

                              Oxfam

                              American Red Cross

                               Salvation Army