Convention Time/Timing (UPDATED! I DID IT!)

6/1 Update: SUCCESS! 

Despite missing nearly a full day of the con, everyone there was incredibly nice and no one screamed at me openly for being the Marketplace's "That Guy." This ended up being my highest-earning DC-area con yet, and I credit the positivity and proactive nature of the Fur The More staff for creating a strong and supportive environment. People were nice even though I stayed at my table to catch up and didn't socialize as much as I should have.

Also throwing huge praises to Mandy and Fox for letting me abuse their time for a late lunch. It was surreal and exhilarating to live inside their comic, Curtailed, for a couple hours. (Those two are so perfect they create comic-worthy moments every few seconds - and I TOTALLY STOLE SOME OF THEM FOR THIS SUMMER'S UPCOMING STORYLINE.)

I also got to draw for middle schoolers today, which is always a huge boost. The next generation is dangerously smart and talented and inspiring - and I was faced with the idea of destroying them out of fear, or encouraging them in hopes they won't turn me into Soylent Green when they get into power. Here's hoping those quick portraits and fox drawings keep me alive one day!

Four days of heavy talking and no sleep are having predictable results on my condition currently, as my facial muscles are super "hungover," but I got extreme enjoyment out of that time! (I get my treatment Thursday. It it helps, maybe I'll be slightly less drama for everyone next time around.) No Copper Road update is happening until I get back under control - so maybe next Monday? I have no Precocious buffer left, so that's my current comic priority.

I need to turn some items back on in the Precocious store, but my password expired and I can't remember which of the dozen or so options I was using. Maybe I'll find the post-it note with it around here later...

The Kickstarter and the Current story!

(Image unrelated to post. I thought I should include a picture, 

and I had an unused panel from the Food Fight story, so...)

My preference is to mix up the types of stories in Precocious for variety, so it's a little odd for four of the last five stories to be school-based. In the case of the current "morale-boosting" tale, it's a quirk of timing on two levels. We're a few weeks away from spring, when things (in theory) warm up enough for more outdoors-based storytelling - as well as marking the return of the kids' standard outfits! In sorting through upcoming stories, I found myself with a two-week opening before the warmer weather tales began, and my weather-independent stories were either too short or too long to fit.

But another bit of timing came into play. A little over six months after a stupid fall managed to mess me up, and trigger a wave of painful complications and bad flare-ups of prior medical issues, I've finally fought my way through to the last bit of the book 3's Kickstarter fulfillment.  After the packages I'm mailing tomorrow arrive, all that's left is one person (who has most of his order, and is waiting on a special reward), and the few who never filled out their backer surveys. (Since you didn't check the Kickstarter emails, maybe you'll see this post?) It's been a very frustrating time for all of us, and I'm so sorry this had to happen. I'd fought so hard to overcome the pain caused by two botched procedures on me to find stability and productivity again, only to be undone because of what I eventually learned was a defective bolt in my desk chair. ("All for the want of a horseshoe nail...")

One of the unlocked Kickstarter rewards was a bonus story for backers, and that one kept getting pushed back with everything else. Maybe there's a silver lining to that dark cloud, because I gained more time to play with the outline - and one day a second story emerged! The original story for Kickstarter backers was told over 14 comics, I had a 14-day gap in my schedule AND a new side-story, and during this 14-day gap was when the last of my overdue Kickstarter rewards would be sent out. SO I HAVE AN IDEA. Now, everyone can enjoy the bit of silliness I had planned for backers, and those who supported the book 3 preorder will be sent a PDF including this story, the bonus side story and some extra commentary upon completion of this story's run here. The side story will answer a question or two, and provide an alternate perspective on the great sixth grader incident.

I can take pride in knowing I didn't (and won't) miss a comic update, no matter how bad things got for me. The goal of a good daily comic is to always be there to make you smile, through happy days, grumpy days and dark moments. Precocious is something that you could take for granted, knowing I will always be there with a new treat for you ever day. (Thought I'd much prefer appreciation as opposed to a sense of entitlement - but such is the double-edge sword of reliability!) It hit me very hard that I couldn't be Captain Reliable for everything, and I had no choice to but to watch my deadlines come and go for non-Precocious work. While I've had a few commissions take too long, though all had legitimate reasons for those delays, this was a new experience for me. And it was awful. ESPECIALLY since I had the Kickstarter reward timing so perfectly planned out! Nothing makes the universe angrier than someone making plans, I guess.

I'm in no way out of the woods yet on any level. My health is still more bad than good, and it'll be interesting to see how that issue plays out with a potentially helpful procedure on the horizon. I also have lots of comic plans that I'm not willing to put on hold. I still plan to debut book four at Anthrocon this year, and the companion book will be produced as well, though for a later release.  One cruel twist on life is that your bill don't stop even when you can't work - in fact, they skyrocket with the addition of so many medical bills! (Don't get sick in America unless you're rich.) I will be looking into various fundraising options to help keep both me and the comic going, and I hope enough people appreciate what I do to give me the chance to keep fighting - but first, before any of that, I have a dwindling pile of outstanding orders to finish. Wish me luck!

New Copper Road + News stuff!

Hey, I made one! Hooray! Vote here to see the latest Copper Road.

No, I didn't intentionally take Copper Roads away to force you to earn them back in the book three preorder. It's an unfortunate consequence of book work, convention prepping and me being very ill. (I'm still doing the doctor circuit, hoping for some good news.)

On the book, the preoder has been delayed again, though the release date hasn't. Basically, I'm not taking your money until the book is already complete and ready to go. There will be no iffyness on this thing. I have a basic plan for the tiers I will be offering, though I might sneak in a quickie reader survey in the next week or so to gauge interest before investing in bonus goodies.  The big delay right now is not about the book being completed, but when I can put up the campaign page. If things go as planned, I'll be on the road for a large chunk of March, visiting friends and tabling at Fur The More and Furry Weekend Atlanta, so I just won't have computer time to sit down and type stuff out. It may take until early April before the campaign is proofed and approved for launch.

Also of note: Due to my two-cons-in-two-weeks journey, I will be shutting down the Precocious store during that time. I can't ship books on the road, and I'll have all remaining art cards with me at the cons for sale. This means if you want to grab some art or the books, do it now. My stock is running low, so I may keep the store closed until after Awesome Con DC.

Precocious is five years old!

Forget this New Year stuff! The most important thing about January 1st is that it's Precocious' birthday! Five years, and around 2000 comics between the archive, deleted scenes and the book bonus stories. Not too shabby! (Thanks to Isabel Marks of Namir Deiter for the gift art!)

(Want to celebrate the occasion too? Now's as good a time as any to check out all the goodies in the Precocious store!)

When I started, five years was my goal. From all my reading of dailies, I saw year five as when artist competence and character development come together to bring a comic into a golden age. Well, every year I've done this has been precocious to me. Year one of Precocious was fresh and new and exciting. Year two built upon a strong foundation and expanded the universe. Year three is when I took a major level up and committed to the goal of making Precocious my JOB and not just a hobby. Year four is when I pulled out all my tricks. Year five... this was the year I took for myself and drew what I wanted to draw. The stories from the past year were so much fun for me to write, and it was so gratifying to see so many people coming along for the ride. I told myself I'd reassess the comic at year five, and I can't imagine stopping now. I'm not done. I have so much left to tell and so much silliness to share.

2013 was a great year for the comic, but not so much for me. A toothache I thought would be a one-week inconvenience turned into a botched surgery and a year of medical hell. As the year comes to a close, I'm still in doctor limbo, dealing with chronic pain and fighting all the side-issues that come up when lengthy medical issues happen. I've been double sick for weeks thanks to a cold caught due to being in so many doctor waiting rooms, and my drawing hand is in a cast because I aggravated and old finger injury due to me playing too many video games while stuck in bed during pain downtime. (Yes, this means I'll have to be clever with next week's updates, as my buffer doesn't cover the full cast stretch.)  I am so glad to see 2013 go. It was brutal. BUT I DIDN'T MISS AN UPDATE! In you face, 2013!

Here's hoping 2014 brings me health, and chances to do all things that I wanted to do in 2013.  Book 3 is coming, and the preorder looks like it'll start in February right now. (It will be in color, and thus VERY expensive to print, so I'll really be needing your support!) The other plans? We shall see. I'm a one man operation, so I can't put in the extra work needed until I'm healthy enough. My convention schedule is likely to be scaled back, again due to health.  I'm confirmed for Fur The More, Furry Weekend Atlanta, Anthrocon and Mechacon. I'll try for SPX. Not sure about any others.

Thank you all for reading Precocious. Keep coming back. Keep contributing. Keep spreading the word.

New Copper Road! 11/12/13

(First, did you see the costume contest results, and check out the awesome fan art gallery?)

Just when you thought it was safe to not be in Sapphire Lake...  *Jaws music plays*

A new Copper Road is here, and it's joining in on Rules Week fun. Vote here to see the new comic! By the end of this week, you'll know 16 of the 25 rules. Maybe 17. I think one slipped into the archive without being named. (It's a big archive. I don't always remember what's in there.) Anyway, enjoy the event. As all the mystery is gone once they're all named, I'll have to settle for dropping  in some of the remaining rules here and there... over the months and years.

Thanks to my ongoing medical woes, I'm in a perpetual state of playing catch-up - but I'm doing my best to keep up with my Copper Road promises and make a dent in the few remaining commissions and art obligations I have. It's about a 40% chance if I'll be able to do streaming this weekend.So keep checking the home page. Don't worry, SOMETHING good will pop here no matter what, as the next Copper Road has been drawn is will go up once this one has had time to make its way into your hearts.  UPDATE: Waking up two days in a row with my trouble finger angrily protesting has stifled any plans to work ahead, so streaming is bumped again. I do see a hand specialist on Monday, so let's be hopeful.

Sorry for being broken! It's my goal to have no one notice - if not for these damn news posts mentioning it.

Crazy times, but amazing times!

If you've been paying attention, you know things haven't exactly been smooth for me lately. My ever-escalating illness was making it harder and harder to work, and bad medical advice only made things worse. I was flying by the seat of my pants, and it was highly stressful. I was giving more than my body could take, and trying not to let that strain bleed too much into the comics.

It didn't work. People complained and I couldn't do much to fight back. (I don't blame the complainers at all - eveb uf I don't agree with their assessments. I've spoiled you guys for years, so any lapse seems like a betrayal at this point.) After tearful pleas, I finally got my doctor to write me a new prescription for painkillers. Those drugs did more to help me that the months (and thousands of dollars) spent on treatment did.  They weren't a solution by any means, but they bought me 10 days of being able to function at a semi-normal level. I used that time to its full potential, grinding out 16-hour work days so I could get everything perfect. It was not ideal, but I had set up my files to make success possible.

Still, having only this small window during a long illness meant weird timing.  My buffer had run out and I was already through my emergency scripts. I had my work done, and it was ready to get the Kickstarter going. I took the scripts I had and planned out some meta jokes (that, of course, drew even more complaints) that would tie it all together in retrospect. I submitted my campaign, but time had run out. I had to begin the promo week even though the campaign wasn't approved yet.  (And I will NEVER regret the promo week tradition. I am a very small comic, and this is my livelihood! If it's cute and funny and helps, it's the right thing to do.)

It was all in motion. There was no going back.  The plan, before all the sickness improvising, was to lead with the "It's Alive!" comic and do a standard promotion.  Editing turned it into a preview week, and that was cool too. I would simply run the "It's Alive!" comic when the campaign was approved! (Well, I quickly realized that wouldn't work, as the week delay meant I'd be opening up my preorder while I was traveling to a convention and away from my computer. Timing, in accordance with the recent trend, was destroying all my planned cleverness.)  But then I got nervous. Kickstarter only says "a few days" - and so I asked some other friends who did Kickstarters how long it took them.  "It took over a week for me.  I've heard it go up to two weeks before."  WHAT!? That is not a "few" days! What have I done to myself now? The complaints would be deafening, and right when I needed support the most. All the sacrifices I'd made - all the good will I had tried to build up over the years - I was about to throw it away. It's a sad reality.  Make 1500 comics someone enjoys?  That's great. Make one comic they don't, and that's all it takes for them to delete the bookmark. Such is the nature of the beast.

So it was time to improvise again! I drew up this alternate comic, just in case Kickstarter was dragging its heels. The "We now return to your regular programming, already in progress" joke would still have followed, but it would have been more an admission of failure than a clever joke. (More complaints! People love complaining.) Fortunately, Kickstarter was on time and I got my approval Thursday night. I was finally able to set things up and know I was covered.

It wasn't pretty, and it took a lot of grief and pain in the process, but that's how life goes sometimes. Behind the scenes, I put my all into this stuff, and I made sure I had everything PERFECT. I put my priorities in the right places, and it was just bad timing that resulted in poor optics. I had the plans in place, but I was simply so ill I couldn't do anything about those plans. I don't regret the comics I made, just the order they were presented in. I can't regret not keeping people up to date on my suffering, because it wouldn't have changed anything - and I had no idea it would continue getting worse until after it had already happened. The doctors blew the diagnosis, and why wouldn't I have trusted them?

It was tough, but I got through it, and it's all be amazing so far. The Kickstarter is going great - c'mon, folks, let's get those artist collaborations unlocked! - and good will is returning.  It's been a crazy, rough road getting here, but things are looking good again!

I'm in no way recovering yet. The meds are gone, and I'm back to getting the full brunt of pain again. It'll be a while before I can see the best doctors, who will hopefully get me on the path to recover, as they're in demand, but at least I don't have multiple major projects going on as this happens.  I can keep the comic moving with the few good hours I have - maybe even tossing in the occasional Copper Road.  Things are still tenuous, and any setback longer than a week puts me back in scramble mode, but I have hope. I'll beat this, and I'll be able to thrive again.

Decompression time!

Precocious has had three lengthy stories during its run. Group Projects was huge, Party Crashers took a long time, and now the Fall Festival joins them as huge entry. The previous two biggies ended with a quiet week for me to recharge myself, and this one is no different.  This time, the comics have more meat on them than previous recharge weeks. Even if they're all single-panels, I think you'll enjoy them.  Plus, it's less drawing strain, as I promised my doctor I'd cut down. (No real update on the facesplosion front, by the way. Still in pain, but slowing myself down softens it a bit.)

Even with some nuttiness on my end, March is looking pretty cool for Precocious. You shall see!

Big Ol' Health Update

This is my Valentines Day card to all you wonderful readers! And, yeah, that's a good summary of my current health too.

For those who haven't gotten the play-by-play over on my Twitter feed, I'll try to summarize what's been happening to me. Be warned: It makes ZERO sense. I am baffled. The docs are baffled. Everyone's baffled!

The fun of my toothache and extraction is over, and what's taken its place is a strange muscle problem in my face. No one really knew what was happening to me for a while, and even now we aren't sure WHY it's happening. It's obviously tied to the extraction, as I've never had these symptoms before, but that's all we know.

The problem with such a muscle problem is that it's far worse than a sore tooth. It could take months to recover from - and I'm not helping it by trying to fight through it the way I am.  I have an official letter from my doctor, demanding I cease drawing. It's not the main trigger for pain flare-ups, but the most controllable. Eating is the worst for me, as any chewing whatsoever will knock me out. Talking hurts me. SMILING hurts me. I am medically advised against watching comedies on TV, or cheering for my sports teams. (Not that there's much cheering these days for Caps fans.)

What this means is that my pain increases throughout the day as I do such strenuous things as eating, breathing, talking and having emotion. Pain leads to fatigue. Pain and fatigue keep me from drawing. I'm seeing more doctors soon, but for now the general consensus is to rest as much as possible.

I do sometimes have small windows in the morning to work, but it's not enough to keep pace with what I need.  It's easier to do light work than work requiring intense concentration - which is why I mostly post fancy sketches these days. It's the only way I can give anything back at the moment.

So what does it all mean? I'll do what I can, but the chronic pain is going to take its toll. I can't say what will happen yet. My priorities must be focused on the most important deadlines, and I still intend to meet them. The Fall Festival arc will continue uninterrupted until its end, and Precocious will keep updating after that in some form. (I have ideas that are pretty cool, *and* could help my health!) Since no one knows what's up with my stupid face, no one's able to make any predictions about what will happen to me.

What can you do? Be patient, and save up your money! Medical bills combined with a loss of all commission income puts me in a very bad spot, but I'm full of pride and I want to earn my keep!  Wait for the book announcement! Wait for merchandise announcements! The Precocious store will pop up eventually. All the plans are still in place, just delayed. (The donation bar remains on the front page, just in case someone still wants to help now and earn color for the bonus story that, yes, will come as soon as I can draw it.)

I understand everyone's frustration, especially since I've done all I could to spoil you all rotten to this point. Please be patient, and please be kind. The comic is free, remember. The paid stuff has been suspended until I can deliver. (The four with outstanding commissions have been contacted, understand the situation and can write me again if they have more concerns.)

The best thing you can do for me is to come back every day. Be an active reader, whether it's through re-reading the archive, commenting on strips, writing me, asking me questions on tumblr or formspring, going through the sidebar links and following my antics, spreading the word to others, clicking on the page's ads (disable adblock, please) or reading through the links I post, retweet and include on my linking page! It means the world to a creator to *see* people enjoying his work - especially in trying times.

I'll try to keep things entertaining and running smoothly for the casual readers, but I felt you all had a right to know why some things have slipped. As mentioned before, I had a *great* plan! I have several scripts for Precocious and Copper Road and bonus stories! I have sketches for merchandise! I just need to be healthy enough to make those happen! If more rest is needed, more rest will happen. I need to survive the now to thrive in the long term - and that's a delicate balance.

New Copper Road! 1/24/13

As bad as I've been with health stuff, I'm still riding a great wave of fun with comic creation. I started the year with a long list of ideas I wanted to act on, and that's been so helpful with me being being mopey and pained. Today's original Copper Road idea had to be delayed, as I didn't have the script *just* right - but I was able to go to the backup list and whip something up for your pleasure. Vote here to see the new comic!

So, yeah, the second I can do work without my head exploding later, there will be no stopping me! I've got outlines and ambitions - Comic ideas for months, art plans, merchandise plans and, of course, the book announcement looming in the future.

Chrispmas Giveaway #2

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. Merry day off to those who don't celebrate it, but are taking advantage of the holiday. Merry overtime pay to those working tonight. Merry Precocious update day to everyone else. Let's all get away for a while, escape from reality and read some comics!

Today's comic annoys me, as it was drawn while I was in a lot of pain and because of that the quality isn't great. So I ask you to distract me! Make me smile! There are two approaches you can take:

1) Share a cute story about Precocious in today's comment section. It could be how you found Precocious, why you keep reading Precocious, about your shrine of Precocious goodies, how you lost your swag bag Tiffany pin and later found out it somehow derailed a train... whatever!

2) Cute pet pictures! (Yes, you can share a short story on why the pet is cute too.) You get a bonus entry if the pet is pictured with Precocious stuff! (I'll accept a monitor displaying the site in the background.)  These can be emailed to me if you want to avoid the comments section.  If you do want to post your pic in the comments, let me help you. (This graphic can always been found in the site's FAQ, by the way.)

Each person only gets one entry - and only one bonus, when applicable - no matter how many times you post stories or pics. You must post with a valid email attached your comment, so I can contact you.  The window for entries is from Midnight to midnight, eastern time. I will compile all pics submitted and post some at a later date on the blog so I can show 'em off.

As for Monday's winners?

*drumroll*

Winner #1 - Jess!
Winner #2 - Emi!

I'll send you both an email! Congratulations!

As for the rest of you, grab some pets and a camera?

Chrispmas Week Giveaways!

My original plan of streaming art gifts for holiday orphans had to be scrapped due to my continued illness - I am feeling better, but not enough to risk it - but we can still get some holiday cheer in! Keep watch over over this space, as there will be a new giveaway announced every weekday. Up for grabs are artist trading cards, watercolors, original line art, pins and some portfolio pieces.

You'll be given a little task to do each day, such as posting a key word in the comments or sharing a comic on Twitter.  All those who participate are entered into that day's drawing. The winner gets to pick their prize from the available stock!

The posts will go up around midnight, with instructions on what to do, so keep an eye out. After a day's winner is determined, I'll update the front page post and message the lucky person.

Yeah, it's a little more work and less fancy art time, but it's free stuff and that's still pretty cool. I hope to be streaming again next week!

Copper Road! Bonus Comics! More!

It's a special holiday-themed Copper Road for you! Vote here to get in on the cheer and sing along! We'll finish Ursula's story in early January, by the way, but for now enjoy the beautiful color of the holiday's that one kind soul bought for you!

In other news, the big bonus bar on the main page has been filled! 15 bonus comics will be coming your way! These are all double-sized and tell a story. You'll have lots of fun with them. I'm not sure how I'll present them yet. Run two stories at once on the main page? Put them all in one giant update? Spread out their release by using them as vote incentives, then post them as whole elsewhere? I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, and I will listen to your feedback if you have it.

Since I didn't let myself start on the comics until the bar was filled, it'll be a while before your reward is ready. So, hey, if there's a delay, why not keep this party going? The bonus bar now seeks to become a new color! If you all can fill it up, via purchasing Precocious goodies or through happy donations, this bonus arc will come to you in vivid color!

You may have more time than expected too, if my dental hell continues. First it was a toothache, then it was soreness and slow healing of the tooth extraction, then it was my jaw flipping out due to favoring one side of my mouth for so long and now I'm on day four of a brutal and debilitating sinus headache that is freaking me out. (I don't get these normally, and the timing us just too uncanny for me to think it's a random event. Sigh, back to the doc I go...) All in all, while I've kept Precocious going, I've lost a full month of work for my other projects - yes, including the new cast page. I'm not happy about it, but it happened and all I can do is fight on.  As you've probably noticed, this week's streaming was canceled, as sitting up and leaning forward while talking make up the "things that cause pain" trifecta in my current state.  I still hope to recover before my Christmas Eve art giveaway steams, but I really don't know at this point. If I can't stream, I will find other ways to be Santa Chrisp - so keep watching the front page news section for updates!

I will get better. I will get my work done. I won't let you all down. Just cut me some slack until I can get healthy.

Brighty, shiny dayzzzzzzzz...

Ah, vanity. You are a raging, abusive bitch! I had my teeth whitened yesterday, and it was quite the hellish incident. Note: THIS WAS NOT MY IDEA! This was a "gift" to me. Woohoo!

To describe the process involved, imagine A Clockwork Orange but moved four inches down. They hold your mouth open, pack it with gauze, paint over any exposed pink stuff - because it will BURN otherwise - and apply the super whitening gel. Then the head must be held still for 15 minutes as a bright light of laser death cooks the coffee stains away. Then we repeat it! Two. More. Times. AAAAHHH!!

Screw vanity. I'm content with being a quirky artist without the need for a perfect body. I bring the sexy with a real, all-unique personality! The goal is for you to develop rose-colored glasses for everything else. Fall under my spell!

Oh yeah, and the *best* part of everything is what happens AFTER the procedure. See, the teeth are super dehydrated after the whitening, so they need to get the water back inside. And that is accomplished by way of BLINDING PAIN! The dentist calls them zingers! It's like a bunch of tiny men with a bunch of tiny rifles (and mini cannons!) reenacting Gettysburg in my mouth. Most of the time they're just firing guns into my teeth, but every so often that cannon goes off and, BOOM, I scream!

But, hey, at least I'm pretty.

Anyway, I've spent the entire day in bed medicating the pain away. I *was* going to get Saturday and Sunday done for Precocious, but instead it looks like I'll be fighting the clock on that one. I'm still in sleepy mode, ready to nap for another 18 hours. That seems like a plan!

Portrait of the inside of my head?

No, it's not about my clear insanity - it's about my teeth! Complete chaos? Nothing aligning quite right? A bit of decay at the bottom? Yeah, sounds like my mouth. Artists like me are so deep.

I'm nearly done with this bit of playing around. On to the next one?

A primary concern

In today's episode of "When Paintings Go Wrong" we feature this chaotic mishap. Have I wrecked what was once a promising start, or does TRULY REFLECT my dental disaster influence as intended?

I think it all went wrong when I chose to use primaries as my color scheme. I don't work well with 'em. Specifically, I don't work well with YELLOW. Once I go that route, I eliminate a lot of color harmony. It doesn't mesh well with my favorite light blue violet, and when combined with red oxide (another fav) it makes the painting looks too Washington Redskins. I think if I went back and painted over all the yellow with pistachio. it would look significantly better. You know what? I *have* Photoshop. I can test it out there. LET'S DO THAT!



You know, my theory was right. Next step: ATTACK OF PISTACHIO! (What's really depressing is that Photoshop's color range tool made me realize this thing would look really good in just black and white. Color is my enemy!)

That won't solve every problem, though. There's still the matter of "what goes in the white space?" and "what's sharp and what's loose?" facing me. I really like what's going on in the lower right and I'd like to spread it out to help differentiate between the main form and the supporting structure. Right now nothing really pops. That must be fixed.

I have a long way to go before this painting is serviceable, if it's possible at all, but all in all it wasn't a bad result for a day of agony. I'm just hoping the soreness is reduced when I wake up.

It's fine art tomorrow - Today!

As threatened, here comes the fine art - full of tortured emotions, inner pain and twisted emotions. It's deep! It's dark! It's scary! Ok, fine, it's about my mouth.

For those in the audience who are not also outside my window stalking me (please stop that, those who are), you may not know that this pile of stress has TMJ as a result. That means I suffer from jaw pain periodically and it can flare up at times. This might be one of these times. There's so much wrong with my mouth on that side it's hard to tell. It's not very pleasant right now, and it gets worse if I eat on that side, but I'm putting my faith in ibuprofen. (It's kinda hard to think of the funny when in pain.) Anyway, that side is out. It should go away soon enough if I keep wearing my bite guard at night. (It's my fault for slacking on that in the first place.)

On top of that, as part of an ongoing restorative project, today I got a temporary crown on the *other* side of my mouth, which means staying clear of *that* side when eating for two weeks.

Ruh roh.

Well. I need to slenderize some anyway. Starvation is easier than exercise! (Oh, who am I kidding? I can still abuse noodles!)

Anyway, I'm taking a day of from making the comic (unless I can somehow script) to do some painting/napping. This start of a painting here is all about inability to choose sides. I actually flipped it over part of the way through and started playing anew. As always, I have no clue how the heck this will play out. I'm extemporaneous!

Life on the edge

It's seems all I can draw today are the outsiders of the comic. On the plus side, they're nice sketches. On the minus side, I CAN'T DO ANYTHING PRODUCTIVE!

Today has been miserable. I woke up in pain, which is likely the result of stress finally taking its toll on my jaw. If that's it, then maybe some relaxation will make it go away. If it's something more dentally malicious, I'm in real trouble. I'm sorta on the Winchester dental blacklist right now. Right now I'm living off an advil/excedrin combo, and that's only enough to keep me from screaming. Guess that's a plus. I *really* hope this goes away tomorrow.

This is not a good time for a breakdown. Tonight the last of the bake sale story runs, and tomorrow gag-a-day May kicks off. I'll be dancing on the edge this month, and that makes me very uncomfortable. I'm used to having a few weeks of strips in my buffer, and I'm starting to burn off the last of what I have. Here's to hoping life improves in the next few weeks, because I'm creating strips at a far slower pace than a daily strip requires.

My pride is worth $14

Today I got my final filling to complete my root canal saga. This whole thing has gone on almost a year. To summarize: I let my dentist convince me he could save my tooth by drilling it and putting in a gold crown. At every step of the way, the procedure failed. They couldn't drill as deep as they wanted, so they hoped they got deep enough. They put the temporary cap on incorrectly, leaving me in massive pain throughout the holiday season last year. The crown was the wrong size, so they had to make another. The new crown was also too small, but close enough that they decided to risk it. Every time I complained about it (which I did at every visit) I was told that the pain should go away after a while. When the tooth finally died, the dentist told me antibiotics would take care of it. They didn't, forcing me to take matters into my own hands and schedule an emergency root canal. If they had just left the tooth alone, I would have had saved myself months of constant pain. Yeah, I'd still need a root canal, but that's nothing to compared to what I went through. Best part: Without fail, on the very worst days of this ordeal, I would receive bills from my dentist! Insurance *almost* covered things, but they'd fall a few bucks short, prompting an letter demanding their TWO PRECIOUS DOLLARS! That is just insult to injury. (I refused to pay, prompting them to double the charge to four dollars - the bill arrived the day my tooth exploded.)

So at my appointment I vented. Got a fun lecture. I was told they made the right call each time, but each step only has a 95% success rate. I was that 5% every time. Not content with being fate's bitch, I wanted compensation. Turns out they weren't charging me anyway, since they had already promised any problems with the crown would be covered. Ok, fine. NEW BATTLE! The day of my root canal, I got *another* bill, this time for $14. I told the dentist that, while I knew most of these mistakes could known in hindsight, I needed some victory for peace of mind. I did not want to pay those 14 fucking dollars. Got some great looks out of that, but I insisted it would make me feel better. With a shrug, the doc put a note on my file to waive the charge.

Then I went to the desk at the end. The woman asked for the $14. I pointed out the note on the sheet. She looked baffled. I explained WHY I didn't want to pay. She paused, then said she will ask that my file be audited to review the charge. This was because, she pointed out, the charge might not be related to *that* procedure. That is when I leaned towards her and calmly stated that I don't care WHAT the charge is for, I will not pay it. This was not a bureaucratic quibble; this was an emotional issue. It's 14 fucking dollars! It is a small concession that doesn't come close to covering the fiscal, physical and mental pain this botched procedure caused me. LET ME HAVE THE WIN! She was still confused, but promised an audit. Victory?

Anyway, I devoted the rest of my day to trying to churn out SOMETHING worthwhile. The result was several pages in my sketchbook that would have better used wiping my ass. With midnight approaching, I gave up and went to the colored pencils in hopes a free draw would get something. Well, you see it. Fuck me. My plans for today were just full of fail.

Tomorrow I head to DC for a few days. I expect to be back Saturday. Fear not, forced reader, for I have posts set to appear at 12:01 AM for the days I'm gone. I care that much. FILLER FOR THE MASSES!

Continuing my corner cutting campaign

Throwing ambition out the window, I turn to the Precocious script to evaluate my characters' costume changes... to see how I can avoid them! For instance, here is a future strip as scripted:

(Bud is going through his supplies in the Et's backyard.)
Bud: Gotta hurry. Gotta hurry.
Bud: This is very delicate plan and everything must go as planned.
(Bud puts on his combat gear.)
Bud: It is time to enter the fray.
Sky (walking in): You look adorable, Bud!
Bud (fastening his helmet): I KNOW!

I love this strip, but drawing Bud in combat gear fills me with horror. So screw the outfit - the hat is enough! And, hey, if Bud's helmet *accidentally* flies off as he scurries around soon afterward... OH WELL!

Keeping the Full Metal Jacket helmet is vital. It gives me a fun reference, it makes the strip above work and it puts Bud in a hat! Bud having a hat for all occasions is a visual theme I'd like to use as the strip evolves. His Scottish fold ears make him the one character who can actually handle head gear - at least to the point where accepted cartoon wardrobe logic allows the reader to overlook that even Bud's ears couldn't fit in such chapeaus.

There is precedent for my cranial cop-out already: Tiffany's beret shows up for a few gags, then gets left behind. That decision wasn't as deliberate - I merely forgot to draw it on her for one strip, and covered it up by drawing it in her hands after the fact. Eh, the less work the better!

Autumn's costume change can easily be simplified. She'll switch to a t-shirt and pants, making her combat outfit EASIER to draw. Yay!



Edit: Here she is! The poorly-rendered thing she is wearing is a backpack. I've discovered tonight that I can't draw backpacks at all. The thing she's holding is a water balloon with her name on it, which is also poorly-rendered. Damn details.

Dionne originally showed up to fight in a girly outfit, but I can switch that to her standard outfit without the story losing anything. As long as she's still carrying a cumbersome purse, it works!

I haven't planned costume changes for Jacob or Suzette. Maybe I should. White white beaters and plain slacks for all! Fuck it, ALL MY CHARACTERS SHALL BECOME STICK FIGURES! XKCD was right all along!

Anyway, if I am going to make my new "I suck" deadline, I need to be averaging two strips a day. All this doodling is nice, but hardly what I need to do for productivity - especially since I'll be losing a day or two to finish my paintings this week.

In my defense: It's really hard to do anything with the whole root canal thing. My tooth had been acting up big time over the past few days - and it's going to be doubly sore considering my EPIC root canal today. While a glass of wine can help with inking of strips, being wonked out on vicodin is no good for anyone. My life is sabotaging itself!

If you're wondering what I've been up to...

I may write more about my long and painful descent into dental hell later, but this picture says enough for now.

Note: Sad part is these drugs have been NOT NEARLY ENOUGH TO HELP!