Summer

So it's been... a whole season since I last updated here. I am clearly a terrible blogger, but I've been fairly busy and haven't felt a need to update lately (regular comic updates and constantly spewing nonsense on Twitter have me pretty tapped out, Internet-wise). Summer managed to blast by even quicker than usual, but it was a pretty good one overall. And just for the hell of it, here are 25,000 words' worth of pictures that pretty well sum it up.

Photos: Logan at the Park

For the sake of a quick update, here are some recent photos of my best buddy Logan at his favourite place: the park down the street. It's getting downright summery out there, and the nicer it gets, the more often he asks to go for walks - which usually means the two of us running around the park like maniacs for a while.









More updates as soon as I have time! Life's good, though. Hope all is well with you too, Internet Friends!

Brysketch: Logan

Annnd just a quick one before bed, this time of my best buddy in the universe, Logan:



(Okay, really quick one, but whatever, just for fun!)

The Difference

The big difference between me at the beginning of the year and me now at the end is that my dreams aren't haunting me anymore, they're reassuring me. I wake up so often now, feeling like my brain just gave me a hug and told me, "You're doing all right! Stay the course, good buddy!" (My brain is goofy, but I like it.)

Change seems to be a regular topic with me. Or at least it feels like it's been my basic theme this year. There's been a lot of it, and it's been really positive, overall. It's important to take these regular moments to appreciate that, and my immediate response is always to share that in some way, to talk about it - or write about it, in this case.

Today I posted the 81st "Welcome to Hereafter" comic, and this week the site's been active for a full year. I started drawing the comic sporadically in January 2009, posting them to my now-long-dead LiveJournal. I had no schedule. I had no discipline. Things went on this way for well over a year, and this meant I had very little to show for that time.

Toward the end of 2010, I was staring down the barrel of 27 ("officially in my late 20s," I'd say to myself) and decided I had to get serious about things before that imaginary switch clicked over. I understand now that the difference between 26 and 27 is meaningless, but buying into this mindset, seeing periods of life as a series of "levels", was actually pretty helpful at the time. I got to work. I set a schedule, I made a website, and I brought the comic back to life. Back then, I felt the need to have something, some outlet, some product to show for my time and energy. Something tangible. A year later, I don't see it quite the same way.

I took a hiatus from the comic earlier in the year when I was dealing with a lot of changes in my life and just couldn't feel the drive to work on it regularly. That drive came back, but it came back different - less about a feeling of need, now more out of simple enjoyment. I like doing it, and I'll keep doing it as long as that enjoyment lasts. I'm learning from it in a lot of ways. Getting comments and compliments from readers -- total strangers to me beforehand -- is a more recent development. And how amazing is that? Even one person who enjoys something I've done and feels the urge to tell me about it... That's huge. That means an absolute ton to me. So cool.


Not much else I feel like writing about right now, so here are yet more pictures of my best buddy and loyal ally, Logan:


You can't tell me that last picture isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen. You just can't.


And hey, wrapping this up with a really great song my friend Mike introduced me to a while back, but I kept forgetting the name of - "When I'm Small" by Phantogram:

Photobooth

Because hey why not, just some pictures of me clowning around with my best buddy:


(Apparently I felt like ending that on a sinister note...)

On The Walls

There's something very liberating about getting rid of things you can never get back. Like giving away an old gift, or shredding a photo and deleting the original. Each a little anchor you cut away from your life.

I feel like I'm a positive person by nature. I admit that I haven't been that way all the time, and I still have days where it's hard to find the brighter side. I know that how I feel when I'm caught up in negative emotions just isn't "right". It's hugely stressful, it makes me feel sick and uneasy and I don't know how to deal with it. I'm at my best when I'm positive and hopeful - everything feels lighter, every effort easier. That's how I want to be, as much as possible.

Yeah, I've said as much before. This time it feels a bit different. How I feel right now is like this: I've been through another round of the emotional ringer, the same one I've been through more times than I can count. And the experience has helped me realize once more how important it is to pinpoint those negative influences in your life and remove them whenever possible. I'm tired of being weighed down. So I'm doing my best to cut all those little anchors loose so I can move forward, onward and upward.

And I'm doing it on my terms. How cool is that?

Last post I said I would share some more studio photos, so let's get to that. I've been very fortunate to have collected a number of sketches, commissions and prints by some of my favourite comic artists over the years, people whose work I enjoy and who inspire me. So I've hung them all on my studio walls, where I need them the most.

From top to bottom: Signed "Usagi Yojimbo" print by Stan Sakai, signed "All Star Superman" print by Frank Quitely, "TMNT" sketches by series artist Jim Lawson and co-creator Peter Laird, "TMNT" print by Eric Talbot, signed "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" print by Georges Jeanty, Impulse commission by Dean Trippe, and coloured Impulse sketch by Jason Ho. Click to embiggen!



Obligatory adorable sleeping dog photo:


My best buddy Logan, being awesome even when sleepy. He's completely taken over the house and I am totally cool with it, you guys.

And last (but certainly not least) I have a few links for you:

My dear friend, ally, and life coach in self-destruction, Dean Young, is a talented and brutally funny writer. He has a Facebook page and a Twitter. You should check them out.

That's all for now. Peace out, Internet!

Miscellaneous

It's not even close to Random Thursday, but I'm feeling random anyway, so here goes.

- Jack Layton's death has affected me quite a bit in the last few days. I liked him a lot as a politician and more recently came to consider him a bit of a personal role model, and since yesterday his last words have been constantly on my mind. He had it down - that's the way to live, that's the way to do politics, and we shouldn't forget it. I said all I needed to say in my last post, really, but it felt worth acknowledging one more time.

There's going to be a memorial service for him in town this Thursday. I think I'll go.

- What's Awesome: I'm feeling more verve in me lately. I hope it's not a passing thing, because I like feeling like this. A bonus is, I don't find myself really worrying about other peoples' opinions of me or my life - not that I get a lot of negative opinions, really - but instead I'm trusting my own mind more than I feel I used to. Good stuff.

- I can't (or shouldn't) shave until the stitches are out, so for this week, Operation: Terrible Beard is a go!


Not much to see so far, though. I don't grow the best facial hair anyway - it's pretty light in colour for starters, and due to my two three chin scars, it doesn't come in as full in the middle. But this might be fun for a little while.

- Here's a picture of Logan doing his signature "broken legs" routine:


He drags himself along the carpet with his back legs totally motionless. (And yes, I know what he's really doing. I don't care; he's the best.)

- I've made tentative plans to go zip-lining this weekend. But "tentative" just won't do - it's too unsure for me. Let's lock it down!

- Nobody's really taken the bait on this whole "Ask/Tell Me Anything" thing - what gives!?

- It's a few years old now, but damn do I love this video (and song):



Okay, that's all I feel like spilling out for now. Later, Internet!

Goodnight, Internet

Too tired for real content. Maybe tomorrow. For now, here's a picture of me and my best buddy:


(He seems super happy about it!)

Now I'm gonna sleep for 10 hours straight.

Random Thursday

Today is Random Thursday, where I'm going to just post a bunch of random stuff I've done, plan to do, or am thinking about. Join me in this endeavour, won't you?


I've got the urge to go zip-lining. Probably this weekend. I've wanted to do it for a long time, and I'm sick of putting things off. To hell with it, I want to do it, so I'm gonna do it! I'll update afterward - maybe with video!?


Steadily over the course of the year, I've been gravitating more to bright colours of all kinds. I'm waging my own personal war on the boring and the bland. It's a worthy fight.


I didn't have time to make a new comic for today, unfortunately, but I did draw/ink a bit of filler art that I'm pretty happy with - Athena after an all-night gaming session:


(I, meanwhile, don't even remember when I last had time to play games. I feel surprisingly okay about this!)


A bit of dialogue from "Angel", one of my all-time favourite shows, that I've had swimming through my head for a while now:

Lorne: It's called a moment of clarity, my lamb, and you've just had one. Sort of appalling, ain't it, to see just exactly where you've gotten yourself?
Angel: I don't know how to get back.
Lorne the Host: Well, that's just the thing. You don't. You go on to the new place. Whatever that is.

I've always liked that.


This is my dog:


His name is Logan. He's the best.

Further evidence:


See? The best.


And once again, some Mother Mother:


Change - inner change in particular - seems to be my "theme" of late. And hey, turns out it really is the only constant - I've come to accept that more and more. Here's to changing, and growing, on your own terms!