New Copper Road + Story Notes

Quick programming note first, because 90% of you will tune out after/during this paragraph because you are MONSTERS. While working in my scripting files, I had two stories that were proving difficult to trim down so they'd fit into a week-long block. Rather than overwork myself with extra double-sized comics and deleting more scenes than I'd like, I did the math and realized if they were both overgrown *together* I could neatly fit them into three weeks and the scheduling would still be nice and neat. So nobody panic when a new story starts mid-week. I know some of you are delicate flowers, but it'll all be OK. (When combined, the stories totaled 20 days, so I had to add back in a silly extra gag I'd written. If there's one comic during this stretch you don't like as much as the others, assume that one was it.)

And NOW we're onto a spring-ish Copper Road! Vote here to see the latest comic! This is another one of those "It'd be a journal comic if I were any good at drawing a cartoon version of me" entries. Granted, most Copper Roads are rooted in life observation, so nothing new there. I went out to fill the bird feeder, and realized something was missing. So there's my proof of climate change! And Kaitlyn isn't joking. I used the timestamp on a photo I took last year:

Jerky aside: I saw a heat map going around showing that the eastern US is the only landmass on the planet that didn't get scorched in 2014 - and cold makes my health condition worse. I can only conclude all of humanity's ecological crimes were done with specific malice towards me. "Sir, all that smoke in the air from the factory can't be good." "Oh, lad, it isn't. But in 150 years this guy named Chrispy will be around - AND I WANT HIM TO SUFFER!"

Precocious profile/interview on TGT!

Recently, the folks at Two Geeks Talking approached me for an interview, and I was happy to oblige! Click hear to read the end result! Any excuse to post a selfie and promote the Kickstarter campaign, right? ;-)

Speaking of the Kickstarter, the final list of stretch goals has been unveiled, and I've shared some information of the formerly-secret Precocious book I want to create. This book, titled "Children at Play," is intended to be a Precocious companion - with an original comic story designed as both an introduction to new readers and a something very rewarding for established Precocites. (You'll have to fund its creation before I let you know what I mean.) The book will also contain background information to the Precocious universe, character bios and various comics and tidbits to make it a useful resource. It will be smaller than the annual collections, and printed in black and white to keep costs low.  I do know that a project like this is a luxury, which means I can only embark on it if I know I have the support from the readers to create it, and the funds to help cover the huge time investment needed.

Intervention Review

I only got one pic of our group's full setup that actually had some of the Precocious table in it. Enjoy. That's Becca of Nattosoup on the left and Emily Kluwin on the right.

My original goal with Intervention was simple: This was a DC-area con, which meant a lot to me. I want a "home" convention, where I can be happy and successful and have lots of friends and contacts around me. Precocious is a weird entity. It's not comic enough for comic cons. It's not furry enough for furry cons. I have no idea how anime cons will look at it, as I'm so distanced from anime culture at this point. It's a webcomic, but how many webcomic conventions that help out those with moderate fan bases exist? How many are viable options, when travel and hotel is factored into cost?  Intervention was an interned-themed convention. If it was weird and geeky, it was welcomed. This sounded like a place anyone online could call home, and I was hopeful.

I never expected a big sales windfall. This was a small con, and I was coming off experiencing the cruelty small cons can have. (I did, however, mentally make this a test to see how a general population would feel about my work.) What I expected was moderate sales with enough free time to go around and play with the other dealers. I love talking shop with dealers, because they *know* how it is, and I can learn so much from them as well as, of course, make some excellent friends. This was a convention at which I had someone I knew and could talk to on nearly every aisle. I've felt like such an outsider during my furry con circuit, so this was very comforting. I had SCAD friends, fellow members of the SpiderForest Webcomic Collective, bros from my TWCL days, webcomics I had read or advertised on, and, yes, a furry exhibitor making a crossover I could chat with too. So that was it: Socialize and sell enough to justify my existence!

It became very clear on Friday that half of my plan was about to crash and burn. It was dead in the dealer room. A large number of dealers (many of which I assume came last year and knew what to expect) skipped Friday completely. It felt like the vast majority of those who came by my table were fellow dealers or dealer assistants. This was socially good, because dealers don't usually get time to mingle. I had a great time just hanging out with them - but the realization that I had paid mightily to do so stuck in the mind. Dealer sales are bittersweet. It's great to be appreciated by others 'in the biz' but you know most of them are in the same situation as you. The industry can't sustain itself if it's the same $20 bill flying around the room.  To sum up Friday, I had a blast going around the room and chatting with folks for an hour - before I realized I still had my cash box key in my pocket, which meant no one could cover any sales while I was away. It turned out not to matter. I made some sales on Friday, but the grumbles had already started from the tablemates I  had convinced to join me on this adventure.

Socially, however, the con was great. No traffic meant lots of dealer playing. I got to catch up with Rascals, Rogues and Dames crew, Becca and Heidi, I left behind when I moved away from Savannah. We hooked up with local SCAD grad, Emily, to finish off the foursome. This was my first chance to talk with fellow members of the SpiderForest collective, including the awesome people of Riven Sol, Snow By Night, LaSalle's Legacy, Apple Valley and Adrastus. I got to finally meet buds from my early days of comicking, and long-standing members of my recommended reading list, Mark of Autumn Lake and Dave of Slightly Off-Topic. I ended up chatting a bunch with my neighbors too. Mookie, of the long-running Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire gave me lots of insightful advice. Deanna of Kindling and La Machina Bellica was totally my corner buddy, as we kept each other entertained (at least, I *hope* it went both ways) during lulls. Which were often. Across from the other side of our table was the lovely Duae Designs duo of Eric and Cat, who were selling the cutest amigurumi (figures knitted from yarn) I have ever seen. Our group left with a bunch of them, and now all I can think of is what Precocious characters would look like in Eric's style.

Eric and Cat also made up part of our after-hours drink and draw group - which is noted for having minimal drinking and almost no drawing, just lots of awesome conversation.  Joining this group was also Julie Wright and Darrenn E. Canton. This is where lack of work was great. I've always had homework at cons, or been too tired to play much, so just hanging out and sharing silly stories is something I've never experienced. It was the most fun I've had in a long, long time.

And this is why I'm so conflicted about the con.  It was the highest of highs paired with some dismal lows. It is a marvelous social con, but largely bad for dealers... but my socializing is with dealers, so I need them to not give up! I want to make Intervention a yearly thing for me, but the crowd has to pick up or my friends will start disappearing when I come back.

The con is only in its third year, so growing pains are anticipated. Onezumi, the con head, is amazing at marketing and focusing all her energy on willing this con into existence - and that is both awesome and her curse.  At this point, we *expect* her to pull off miracles, because she's done 'em before.  She managed to pull in guests and dealers well above what the con probably deserved - and I hope that trend continues - but all these great efforts are wasted without people to actually come into the dealer room and buy things!

In two of its three years of existence (maybe all three - I wasn't paying attention last year because I was in Savannah and not actively conning then), Intervention has gotten smacked a bit by the great convention, the Small Press Expo.  As you can tell by the name, SPX is a dream con for someone like me.  I will do all I can to get in next year.  With two cons happening so close (even on the same weekend the first year), the audience buying power is diminished - and, naturally, it all goes to the higher-end con. From what I hear, SPX was a huge success for nearly everyone involved this year. Intervention success stories happened, but they were rare. Onezumi has already taken action to move Intervention away from SPX's might, which should improve things for next year.

Right now I see Intervention as a social con, with dealers as an afterthought. The reason a group of us chose to exhibit at the con is because all this good news was coming out about it. Pre-registration had doubled! The hotel block sold out three times over! People were coming! This con might double in size!  All these signs said the dealers room would be better, but I was told foot traffic was about half of last year's. Ouch. There needs to be something bringing the dealers back into this growing social con.  I understand the point of Intervention is to provide an umbrella to cover all the internetty things, but maybe more focus is needed. Imagine a theme to each year of the con. What if next year the theme is "The Power of Webcomics" with a major push that will cover and build up half of the dealers room!  The year after can be "Fandoms Unleashed" or "It Came from YouTube" or whatever.  Giving a specific internet theme to this internet con could benefit all. You'll get themed cosplay, themed panels, dealers would be able to focus their wares and people will KNOW what to expect.

For me, I will be back next year - probably with a table again - but I will have to take some major cost-cutting measures to do so. This year I was full of guilt, because my endorsement of Intervention brought in three more people that wouldn't have come otherwise. It was big investment for them, and the great socializing doesn't always offset a loss of hundreds of dollars per person. I felt responsible for costing them money, and I won't put myself in that position next year. Next year I will show up Friday morning and leave Sunday afternoon - saving two days of hotel costs. I could even stay with my brother and take the Metro in, but that means I miss some after-hours fun. I will still need sales to improve, but I can hope the con gets better.

I have faith that this convention can be willed into greatness. All the parts are coming together for that. It has been built. People just need to come.

Anthrocon info! (I will have books!)

Today I head off to furryland to do the Anthrocon thing. I shall play with many awesome people and hopefully make enough money to keep the comic dream alive a little bit longer.

I'll be in the dealers room pretty much the whole time it's open, so you have no excuse for missing me. Look, I'm so easy to find!

I will be at tables J16/J17 with the lovely folks of RCSI Publishing. Look for the RCSI logo out front and the giant Precocious and Code Name: Hunter banners behind us!

For those lazy folks who somehow never checked out my sketch blog, here I am. Memorize my face. That is the face you should be throwing your money towards.

While I'll try to look somewhat presentable on most days, I simply cannot let the con pass without breaking out the Tiff hat for one day! (By the way, if you guys covet the caps, let me know. There's a chance of more being made if the price is right.)

So what am I offering?

-THE PRECOCIOUS BOOK! The artist edition bundle will be available for $30.
-Commissions! Sketchbook or 8.5x11" pieces, starting at $20.
-Badges! 3x4" badges, starting at $10.
-Buttons! $1.50 for one. $6 for five. $10 for all 10 designs.
-Magnets! $1.50 each. $5 for all four.
-Whatever else I feel like offering. (Custom buttons looks like a go, for example.)

(More details here.)

I hope to see a bunch of you there! Make me feel welcome!

The book! It exists!

Earlier tonight I was commanded to show up on Skype by the good folks at RCSI Publishing. Why?   Because the proof of the first Precocious book was in! It's real, and it's spectacular!

That would be Matt, of the Code Name: Hunter team, holding a VERY REAL book in his VERY REAL hands!

The first good look you folks have gotten at the back cover. I love the layout.

Bonus art! Bonus art everywhere!

And, oh yeah, an introduction from one of the founding fathers of Webcomics, the great Bill Holbrook!

Also: Those comics the people seem to be going on about.

A look at the Sunday strips in their book form. No color, alas, as that would have more than doubled the printing cost. I hope we made up for that with the giant 48-strip print-exclusive bonus story!

Guys, this thing is happening.  They checked over the proof and it looks FANTASTIC! We'll be putting in the print order for the pre-orders soon (they'll ship out to you early August) and the amount of pre-orders is going to determine the print run. Unless you're planning on grabbing a book at a convention, get your orders in now!

Convention season!

Hey, folks! With the book coming out and me needing to build up my name, I'll be showing up at a few more conventions this year! Guess I should probably list what those cons will be so you make plans to come and say hi!

Yes, I'm re-posting my awesome Precocious banner again. It's relevant! Look for it when you come to the cons! Heck, you can look for the guy in the photo too. That's Matt from the Code Name: Hunter team, and I'll be at the table next to him for all three cons! (If you want to know what *I* look like for con stalking... dudes, my picture has been posted on the sketch blog for FOUR YEARS. Read some supplementary material for once!)

Anyway, here are the cons:

Anthrocon - June 14-17 in Pittsburgh, PA.

FA United - August 17-19 in Whippany, NJ.

Midwest FurFest - November 16-18 in Chicago, IL.

Why go to cons? After my May commissionathon thingy, these will be the only ways to get your hands on custom Chrispy art. Art which can be placed in the BOOKS I WILL BE SELLING (after it comes out). I'll also have some con-only stuff for sale, like pins and potentially minicomics. Also, most importantly, you get to meet me! That's rad! Seriously, come keep me company.

If you were wondering, I'd love to go to regular comic cons too - and that's the plan for next year. This year I just wasn't fast enough to grab a spot in the ones I wanted.

Organization is awesome!

Wish someone had told me that sooner.

In order to put together the book, I must first sort through my big bin of strips to find the comics I need to rescan. Best way to do that? Organize it all! Ye gods...

What you see on my drafting table (currently converted to a much lamer regular table) is not even one third of the strips I have to sort. Every pile represents a break in continuity in which the connection strips haven't been located yet. The most unnerving gaps are those of single missing strips. (Where are you, #593 and #386?) Chunks I know got shuffled away and should all be together, but the loners? Who knows?

So now... what do I do? I've run out of space to stack my strips! This tiny apartment doesn't have much in the way of surfaces. I guess I have to flip through the bin in hopes of finding the missing links... or start stacking on the floor. All I know is I need to get this done today. Which means back to work!

*sigh*

What a pile of every Precocious strip looks like

And today is when my (lack of) organization skills begin to cause me pain. I'm a good boy in that I at least keep all the strips together. (With one exception, but that loner will join the horde tonight.) I'm a very bad boy in that they aren't in order, and nearly all of them aren't labeled and numbered. Heck, those that ARE numbered are likely numbered incorrectly, as I shuffled the archives around.

I knew this day was coming, so I can't complain. The task ahead of me is simple: Sort through everything, number the strips correctly and begin the long and painful process of re-scanning and re-lettering all the early stuff. I also have to decide if I want to go through with re-drawing the first 17 strips. In my dumping out of my comics bin, I did find the beginnings of the redos started a looooong time ago.

In other news, the reason I keep falling further and further behind with things is because I keep giving myself more and more tasks like this. All of them are important and must get done! I just need to learn to function without sleep or something.

Precocious across the world!

Behold! A ego-tastical posting for today!

I can send off all my commissions and donation packages, but it doesn't become real to me that SOMEONE ACTUALLY WANTED MY STUFF until I see photo proof!



Look at this! THOSE ARE FRAMES! My work was frameable! All three Tiffany watercolors hanging together! Oh my heck! (I'll forgive him for making Ginger's Bread the centerpiece, since I outnumber it four to one.)



Since I got permission to post his pictures, here is my Skull Mountain commission with the awesome reader who set the plan in motion! (Note the Team Jacob shirt too. Bonus points!)



I'm even excited to see my magnets in action. This is not just a refrigerator, people. It's a refrigerator IN RUSSIA! Tiffany is demanding attention on another continent! That amazes me!

I've been fighting to keep pace with all my work lately, and it's treats like these photos that keep me pushing forward. Sure, the money is nice for allowing me to eat and stuff - but it's the ego boosts that come from selling art that keeps me going. Thanks to everyone who has supported me. Love to you all!

It's a Precocious party!

The Skull Mountain commission did its job and made it to the DC area in time to join in the closing festivities! I hope some joy was brought into the world via my cartoon critters and the good will of the man behind the commission.

I want to give mad props to this guy and his brother (who did the Downfall parody on the Precocious home page), who are making a bid for the ultimate Precocious fans. That's right, all you other ultimate fans. You have competition! The only solution is to keep one-upping each other, making my smile grow ever larger. (I'm worth it!) That, or group hug in exceedingly cute fashion. Both options are good.

A good Precocite is an active fan! The comic needs to grow in order to become a sustainable thing, so every time you spread the world you are helping to ensure the strip will keep going strong. Seriously, I am absolutely amazed every single day when I think about all you guys have done for me. Don't ever change, you wonderful people!

Oh yeah, and if a good Precocite gets something from me, I want to see photos! Show off your shirts! Show me where you're displaying Precocious art! (Bonus points for super-creepy shrines.) Where are you sticking your magnets? I'll probably whip up a blog post if I get some good shots. If not, you're still helping my self-esteem - and isn't that the most important thing of all?

So now that we're all feeling good about ourselves, are we ready to party some more? Despite no one seeming to care except me, I want Bonus Comics Day to be fun for all. Since I'll be doing an update every hour, my plan for tomorrow is to glue myself to the computer for scripting and coloring - and hopefully lots of hanging out in the comments section!

Get these out of my sight!

Behold: The great wall of Tiffany magnets! As I go forward with my donation drive, I hope for this wall to grow smaller and small until it disappears completely. C'mon, readers! Don't let me down! This donation drive is a first for me, so I'm very nervous about it. I hope my incentives are adequately incentivizing to everyone!

On the work front, I'm still slogging away to build up a buffer to cover a potential trip back to Virginia at the end of the month. I've exhausted all my scripts at the moment, but I've got some really good seeds of ideas that are beginning to sprout. That's my focus of the moment. Commission work has been on hold the past two days, but should resume tomorrow.

*sings* Raindrops keep falling on my bed...

Unlike most stories that involve a wet spot on one's bed, this one isn't about personal shame and embarrassment - which makes it a unique entry for this blog as well!

That wet spot appeared a few weeks ago, prompting me to completely flip out. It is not supposed to rain indoors! My feeble mind couldn't process it! What followed was chaos, as I dragged everyone around me into a panic as well.

My poor upstairs neighbor was dragged home from a social outing because the obvious guess was something in his apartment was leaking. He couldn't find anything, and suggested it was condensation in my AC vent. Ok, so all I had to do was turn off the AC for a while and wait for the handyman to arrive and fix it. Not hard, until I realized I now live in the south, which spends half the year actively on fire.

But I did it. I survived until the repair crew arrived. In my bedroom. At 9am. On my day off. With me still asleep. Since I hadn't answered the door, the building's maintenance man assumed I wasn't in and used his key. Awkward situation for everyone! Still, the fixing was happening. Yay! Life was perfect again!

So, yeah, it started leaking again. Harder than before. (Good thing I hadn't moved my bed back into position yet.) This time the maintenance guy cut a hole in my ceiling to get a look at the cause. It was definitely not my AC that was the culprit, so cool air resumed! The water was coming from up above. Once again my upstairs neighbor got questioned. Once again, no leak was found. I was left with a hole in my ceiling and a ladder in my bedroom, so I could get up in there the next time a leak started and see what was going down. That... that was kinda cool. I kinda looked forward to the next leak.

Last night, the water began to flow again. Once again, pans had to be laid out to collect water. At his point, my one pan had grown to three needed to catch all the drips. As it was the middle of the night, I wasn't about to call anyone. I slept on my couch - again - knowing I was gonna have to ruin someone's Mothers Day in the morning.

Woke up late. Checked the room. Didn't look like any new water. Took a shower. Emerged to a DELUGE! Water was coming down fast and furious. Three pans could only handle the main leak. New dripping spots were forming elsewhere on the ceiling, so this became a full-on five-pan leak!

I sent a tentative text to the maintenance guy. He was out of town, as expected. Texted my upstairs neighbor again, asking if anything new was going on. He was baffled that this was still going on, again asking if it was my AC. I told him the hole in the ceiling proved that wasn't the cause, and that promptly brought him down for a look. I think he was impressed by the calamity!

Seeing how the water was dripping down from high up, he returned to his apartment to make one more check for a cause. This time... guess what? He spotted a cold water pipe that was leaking like crazy. WE FOUND THE CAUSE! He shut off the water. The dripping stopped. Plans for repair are now underway. Life is good. All things now return to normal.

Well, not all things...

I am not Commander Riker

Growing the beard does nothing to improve my life, appearance or the general quality of all things surrounding me - yet I keep growing one anyway!

Why? First, because I am profoundly lazy. As I am decidedly non-wolfman, my beard doesn't grow with any aggressive speed. There's not much beard change from day to day, so it's very easy to shrug my shoulders and say, "Meh, I'll tackle it tomorrow." As time went on, the beard procrastination time grew longer and longer - until I actually had a REAL. FRIGGIN. BEARD. That was unexpected.

Compounding my laziness is my bathroom's plumbing. For some reason, the water in the sink takes a long time to heat up. So every morning, when I would plan to shave, I would stumble over to the sink, turn it on, wait a minute, give up and return to bed for a few more precious minutes of sleep. I decided to go with the crazy beard thing in Savannah. It makes me look like a proper art student! I even grew to like having a moderate amount of facial hair.

But the thing about hair is that it grows, and nice beards look nice for a limited time. Sure, I could buy a beard trimmer and just use that - but implies I am committed to having a beard. Even though I've rocked facial hair for most of the past year, I still don't consider myself a bearded dude. All cartoon Chrispys drawn by me are clean-shaven! No, my beard will only exist as a sign of laziness and insanity! I'll let it grow until it become truly hideous, shave it off and start the cycle anew.

A few weeks ago, the time to shave came. Like a true lazy person, I shrugged it off and said I'd do it the next day. There was only one problem: THE HOCKEY PLAYOFFS STARTED THAT DAY!

It's a tradition in hockey to grow a playoff beard while your team is in the playoffs, and I was going to partake in that tradition this year. If I shaved after the playoffs started, that would jinx my team. But... but I REALLY needed to shave!

Well, seeing as my team is the Washington Capitals, who are known for choking in the playoffs year after year, I figured that problem would take care of itself. And if they succeeded, DUDE, MY TEAM IS WINNING! A crazy "I'm homeless and unstable" beard is TOTALLY worth that! Sure enough, the Caps knocked out their first round opponent with relative ease. Go beard!

And then round two began. Loss. Loss. Loss. The Caps are still alive, but things are as bleak as they could be. You know what, guys? You don't need my beard's help any more. Shortly after the game ended today in heartbreaking fashion, I walked to the bathroom and grabbed my razor. I am done with you, playoff beard!

Despite my massive jinxing of my team, I will continue to root for the Caps to pull the miracle. They don't need my beard to succeed - THE MAGIC WAS IN THEM THE WHOLE TIME!

(Yeah, they're gonna get swept and it's all my fault.)

Sara J. Paulsen 4/5/25 - 1/7/11

It's been nearly two weeks now and it still doesn't seem real. As many of you know, my grandmother and I had a special bond. For all my life, she was my biggest cheerleader and always there when I needed someone. She meant so much to me, and I'm having a hard time imagining life without her.

When my grandfather came down with Alzheimer's and her health began to decline, I put my own life on hold to move in with them and help out. I spent the next two years cycling back and forth between Winchester and Falls Church and it was never a burden. I enjoyed spending time with grandma and we always had wonderful conversations. Even with a weakening heart, she would do everything to ensure my grandfather got the best care. I was happy to be able to take on some tasks and keep her stress level down.

It was only when my younger brother, Greg, moved in with them, and they got my grandfather a full-time caretaker, did I feel safe in moving on. My grandmother wanted nothing more than for me to finish my education, and she was thrilled when I got into SCAD for graduate school. I would never have made that jump if it wasn't for her encouragement and insistence.

When I got the news that her heart was giving out, I was stunned. Just the day before we had been planning on what to do when she got out of the hospital. I was blessed to be able to have one last conversation with her over the phone before she passed. Even though I was stuck in Georgia, it was my way of being with her. Grandma got to do what so many pray for: She left this earth on her own terms. She knew she didn't want to lose her quality of life and she made to call to have no heroics. She died peacefully, surrounded by family.

Since then, it has been a whirlwind. I had to drop everything and return home to be with my family and help out the best I can. With my aunt sick (and now in the hospital) and my mother running back and forth, juggling estate planning and running a business, I had to step up and help where I could. Time for doing anything else just doesn't exist right now. I apologize to you all for giving you this notification so late. Once I got up to Virginia, time lost all meaning and I let a lot of things slide on my end.

The funeral is this Saturday, and after that I have to somehow gather my belongings, trek back down to Savannah and do my damnedest to get back to work. It's going to be a near-impossible struggle, but I will try. Grandma wanted nothing more than to see me thrive, and I will do my best to honor her wishes.

I'm so excited! I'm so scared!!!

Look! Look! A page of sketches! It's not much, but it's more Precocious stuff than I've drawn in a loooong time.

What does this mean? It means I can do some light drawing and not DIE. What does THAT mean? It means nothing until I can prove that I can handle the drawing load that all my grad school make up work entails. That is where I'm scared. I'm already 5 days behind in my plan to catch up, and I'm not entirely certain I can handle this yet. Whatever. All I can do is try!

I'm starting out my road to recovery with simple stuff, like sketchbook work and Precocious. (Yes, compared to grad school, Precocious drawing is super easy.) If I get my concepts thumbnailed and ready to go, then I can ease into the big stuff next week. Doing the math, I need to average a page a day. That seems crazy right now, but each day I hope I can draw a little more. For now, I need to get myself disciplined and DO SOME RESEARCH! What I'm saying is... my holiday season is over. Chrispmas is cancelled. It's time to work.

So, yeah. Excited to be drawing again. Scared to death that.... *ahem* THERE'S NO TIME! THERE'S NEVER ANY TIME!

(Oh yeah... like the photo? It was taken by my NEW MACBOOK PRO! It's so shiny and awesome, I don't know what to do with it!)

The apartment tour

Wow, I totally spaced on getting this post up. I apologize. For those who care, enjoy the before and after photos of my new apartment. I'll *try* to do a grad school first impression post either tomorrow or Thursday.

But anyway, enjoy the tour!

I'll start by giving a basic layout, as best as I can explain. (I should have sketched a floor plan, but whatever.) When you enter, you are in the skinny, teeny kitchen, which is the hall the connects everything.



I don't have a "before" shot of this, because how much difference is there really? Do note the brand new fridge, obtained after the first two were duds. I love it muchly! Fridge aside, there's nothing too fancy here.

Moving on! Upon entering my apartment, if you look to the left you will see... the master bedroom! It's the biggest room in the joint:



Oooh. Ahhh. But, yanno what? I don't want it to be my bedroom! It's right next to the hall and you can hear every bit of movement. My goal for having this spiffy place so close to the Sequential Art building is for it to become a bit of a place to hang out. Thus, I declare this room to be the ENTERTAINMENT ROOM!





...and the studio, since I quickly found out that the original studio room was devoid of entertainment. I need something on TV to distract the stupid part of my brain while I work, so in goes the drafting table and lightbox!

These photos are already dated, as I have since hooked up my video games (to never be used!) and installed a futon, WHICH WAS THE HARDEST THING EVER TO DO THAT WASN'T GRAD SCHOOL RELATED.

Anyway, this entertainment room is off on its own, so we walk back to the kitchen and follow the path to the LIVING ROOM!



This was originally the studio, but that window proved less than entertaining. So what was I to do with it?





Welcome to the I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS room! It contains my library, the closet I constructed (as the apartment came closet-free) and the beloved sexagon coffee table. It will still fill its original studio role for when I (finally) get back to painting.

Anyway, once in this room, if you hang a left you reach what was meant to be the second bedroom - but I've bumped it up to number one!


How could I resist the lone shelf in the place? A BED MUST GO BENEATH IT!



Ta-dah! The bedroom has proven nice and cozy. The only downside is if I play music (softly, so as not to disturb anyone upstairs), I might not be able to hear anyone knocking on the front door. Eh, if they need me they'll knock louder. I *like* my bedroom.

And, finally, if you had taken a right in the whatever-it-is room, you would reach my tiny bathroom. It is a bathroom, and I probably shouldn't have ended my tour with it, but HERE WE ARE!

There, you now have experienced my apartment life in pictures. Your life is better for it.

The slow process of packing

Behold: Minimal progress!

I am slowly packing up things for my move to Savannah, and it's driving me mad. THIS is why I haven't had much to show here as of late. The more I "clean" the bigger the mess becomes! I have to pull everything out first, before I can start putting things away. It's also been a sobering reminder that I AM A GODDAMN SLOB. So. Much. Trash.

I have a few weeks left to finish sorting through 15 years of memories and crap. Wheeeee.

Falling right back off the track

Well, crud. A week goes by and all I really accomplish is a snazzy pair of glasses. My first ones. I'm walking around in glasses, wearing a SCIENCE! shirt. I have truly crossed the nerd threshold now.

As for everything else, I am SUCKING! Comics are coming along at an ok pace, but that's it - and even that pace is going to fall off soon when I get serious about cleaning up the mess that is my living area. I'm WAY behind on commissions, and I apologize for that. I'll do my best to catch up THIS week, but we saw how my optimism worked last week! (Sorry again!)

Today the goal is to finish inking this week's comics. Tomorrow the goal is to get back to the grind with painting somehow. The next day? Probably making up for my failures from Monday and Tuesday. I know how I work!

Getting back on track

With *most* of the pressing SCAD stuff taken care of, it's time to resume being awesome. It seems like it's been a month since things were stable around here. Maybe it has? I'm not saying it's all stable now, but things are starting to fall into place and that's a very good thing.

I'm hardly out of the woods. This next month is devoted to dismantling my life and putting it into easily portable boxes that will be transferred to Savannah. It's a massive job, considering the clutter around here, but if I spread it out it will still allow time for productivity.

This is the week I learn to ride the bike again. I'm back to producing new strips, producing on the commissions and (hopefully) having enough material to get the blog running again. I've fallen a bit out of rhythm, so expect hiccups, but I hope to keep improving myself.

By the way, notice my awesome t-shirt? You should get one of your own!

Back for more, eh?

As anticipated, the bold mouse found his way back into the house. As he did not anticipate, I AM THE GREAT MOUSE HUNTER!

Your folly came in your boldness mouse! I was reacquainted with him as he walked up next to me, having climbed to the top of the mini fridge to investigate some hot dog buns. I moved even close - so close I could have easily reached out and grabbed him - and he calmly backed off. No running; just a "Eh, I suppose I should move" thing.

Ok, fine! I had a bag of stale tortilla chips I was going to throw out, so the trap was ready. Hot dog buns and tortilla bag got switched. Five minutes went by. Mr. Bold came right back to investigate, hopped in the bag and became my captive again!

Just like before, he did NOT take it well - throwing himself against the sides of the bag, trying to jump out and doing his best to gnaw through the thing. No animal with that lust for freedom would make a good pet, so I had to release him again. Obviously, the wood pile wasn't going to keep him away, so I had to trek him out further! This time I went all the way to the edge of the property before setting him free. If he wants back to my house, he'll have to run a long ways to get there.

(He'll probably be back anyway.)

I should have some actual Precocious stuff to show you tomorrow, but tonight I felt my tale of aggressive vermin was fun enough for sharing. *I* think it's entertaining...