Yo.
End of post.
But seriously, folks, I'm exhausticated but feeling in good spirits, as sometimes happens: a little slaphappy, a little sore, willing to put up with this crick in my neck just a little bit longer, so as to make the bed-lying so much sweeter. Only thing I wish I had was a bathtub, so's I can take a loooong soak. Maybe some bath beads. And that pistachio-pie looking face stuff with the cucumbers over the eyes. Ya just sink into the hot water till yer butt squeaks against the bottom of the tub. Ahhhhhh
What was I saying?
Yes! Updates. Gotta tell everybody what all's going on in my oh-so-interesting life. Tidbits follow:
1) Job. Job is challenging and sometimes exasperating, but on the whole pretty rewarding (although I keep that quiet around the shop). I feel like the only one who gets a sense of accomplishment at the print shop; everybody else is always kvetching about this and that and the other. Not that I'm Saint Forbearance here or anything, I bitch a bunch too; I just don't feel that desperation of having been stuck there for ten-odd years or whatever. A Finisher might be the Low Man on the Totem Pole, but there's still a lot of freedom, and I'm not stuck at a desk. And if things get too stifling, I'm pretty close to the back door, too. I'm getting to the point where I'm in the groove of picking and choosing my work order, figuring out what projects are going to take the most time, and whether I should jump the cue to do a super-easy job first if the stuff that's due sooner is taking up a lot of time. There's still a lot to learn - cumulatively I've only been about 8 months on the job - but I'm on my way to gaining mastery over the Finishing Department. Next, THE WORLD!!! Hahahaha
2) Comics. I'm working hell-for-leather on The Human Cannonball #8; this is the first comic I've done that's completely digital (i.e., no art boards and pens). I do get nostalgic for the analog way - God knows I hate staring at computer screens - but I don't miss dried-up pens, mistakes, endless scanning, and erasing one billion fucking pencil lines...and then having to re-ink what the eraser scratched away. Yes, I'm creating a much cleaner product with a more efficient process. It helps that my lovely girlfriend gave me her old laptop, which is far superior in every way to my old 2007 MacBook. Who knew better tech could make things easier?
At any rate, I'm hoping to get THC8 out by...sheesh, October probably. It's still going a lot slower than I'd like. And there are a couple of very good reasons for my distraction...
3) Girlfriend. Not to rub it in for all you lonelies out there, but gee it's great having a girlfriend. I love her I love her I love her. I'ma go see her this weekend, y'all. Lounge around watching Mad Men and whispering sweet nothings, until she smacks me and tells me to stop saying "Nothings" in that annoying voice. But Babe, it's loooooove!
Ugh, I'm annoying myself. Anywhoozle...
4) CAT. Rick has a pet?! Well, stop gawping, I'm not a complete reptile; I do have a soft spot for warm kitties. In fondue. But seriously folks, there is a new addition to the Schlaack/Haines household, and her name is Skitters, and she is a new mother with three squeaky kittens.
Skitters showed up on our porch about a month ago(?), a scrawny and tweaky little tortoiseshell. We get a lot of strays coming through the neighborhood, looking for handouts; we'd already had one Porch Cat who showed up, stole our hearts, and ran off after a hooker (yer a fuckin traitor, Stanley...)(and I'm not kidding about the hooker). Skitters was different. Skitters was loyal. Skitters was persistent. Skitters was...pregnant. Well, so much for paw prints across our hearts, etc.; cats always have an ulterior motive. But she's stuck in the house now! Bwahahaha!
Anyway, if you know anyone who needs a kitten or two, hit us up in about five weeks when they're ready to wean.
5) CAR. Brakes are, according to the latest opinion polls, pretty damn important; mine had just about fallen off by the time I limped into the body shop. According to the owner, the only thing still in good condition were the front brake pads I'd just replaced. Go figure. Needed: new rotors on the front; shoes, drums, spacer bars, and adjusters (via California) on the backs; brake lines; a new hose. Total: arm, leg. Multiples of same. Don't know where I'm going to get all those body parts, though the hospital is around the corner and looking preeeettty tempting right now. C'est la vie; I made a small business owner extremely happy, and I've got a sparkling new brake system. So it could be worse.
I could be in Houston.
Too soon?
6) Reading/Writing. Yes, my shoals of gawping goldfish, Rick has been known to crack a book once in a while, although the library insisted he stop doing that, it scares the other patrons. I've been on a real Beat kick right now (if you haven't noticed), although it's more in a scholarly bent - that is, I've been reading more about the Beats than of them. I did read Burrough's Queer, which was heartbreaking and funny and excellent; right now I'm reading Ginsberg and Kerouac: the Letters. It's a pretty fascinating read, and I'm going to blog about it as soon as I finish; you get to see into the minds of two seminal Beat writers. Though Ginsberg is the better writer (IMHO, and OUTHO too, so there) Kerouac is the more interesting character - he was really insecure about On the Road, and at one point unleashes a hastily-written diatribe worthy of the Social Media Age. Good stuff. I love Ginsberg's Mexican letters...but I'll tell you all about it later.
I'm also working for Essence Cartoon as a scriptwriter. So far things have been a little sparse, but they're reorganizing and hoping to get me some more work. Here's hoping! I love writing and reviewing and all that sort of thing, and it'd be great if I could make some money off it. I'm not hoping to get famous for writing or anything, since that would overshadow the comics (yeesh, listen to me...) but I'm all about that extra dosh.
OKAY! Enough, enough. Papa's tired. Need food. Need beer. Need...a nice relaxing bath. Can you rent bathtubs? That'd be awesome, kind of. Or disgusting. Would that be like, renting a mattress? But then that's basically what you do in a hotel...huh, okay now I'm just fragmenticating. Talk more later. Nice readers. Be good.
Rick Out (cold).
End of post.
But seriously, folks, I'm exhausticated but feeling in good spirits, as sometimes happens: a little slaphappy, a little sore, willing to put up with this crick in my neck just a little bit longer, so as to make the bed-lying so much sweeter. Only thing I wish I had was a bathtub, so's I can take a loooong soak. Maybe some bath beads. And that pistachio-pie looking face stuff with the cucumbers over the eyes. Ya just sink into the hot water till yer butt squeaks against the bottom of the tub. Ahhhhhh
What was I saying?
Yes! Updates. Gotta tell everybody what all's going on in my oh-so-interesting life. Tidbits follow:
1) Job. Job is challenging and sometimes exasperating, but on the whole pretty rewarding (although I keep that quiet around the shop). I feel like the only one who gets a sense of accomplishment at the print shop; everybody else is always kvetching about this and that and the other. Not that I'm Saint Forbearance here or anything, I bitch a bunch too; I just don't feel that desperation of having been stuck there for ten-odd years or whatever. A Finisher might be the Low Man on the Totem Pole, but there's still a lot of freedom, and I'm not stuck at a desk. And if things get too stifling, I'm pretty close to the back door, too. I'm getting to the point where I'm in the groove of picking and choosing my work order, figuring out what projects are going to take the most time, and whether I should jump the cue to do a super-easy job first if the stuff that's due sooner is taking up a lot of time. There's still a lot to learn - cumulatively I've only been about 8 months on the job - but I'm on my way to gaining mastery over the Finishing Department. Next, THE WORLD!!! Hahahaha
2) Comics. I'm working hell-for-leather on The Human Cannonball #8; this is the first comic I've done that's completely digital (i.e., no art boards and pens). I do get nostalgic for the analog way - God knows I hate staring at computer screens - but I don't miss dried-up pens, mistakes, endless scanning, and erasing one billion fucking pencil lines...and then having to re-ink what the eraser scratched away. Yes, I'm creating a much cleaner product with a more efficient process. It helps that my lovely girlfriend gave me her old laptop, which is far superior in every way to my old 2007 MacBook. Who knew better tech could make things easier?
At any rate, I'm hoping to get THC8 out by...sheesh, October probably. It's still going a lot slower than I'd like. And there are a couple of very good reasons for my distraction...
3) Girlfriend. Not to rub it in for all you lonelies out there, but gee it's great having a girlfriend. I love her I love her I love her. I'ma go see her this weekend, y'all. Lounge around watching Mad Men and whispering sweet nothings, until she smacks me and tells me to stop saying "Nothings" in that annoying voice. But Babe, it's loooooove!
Ugh, I'm annoying myself. Anywhoozle...
4) CAT. Rick has a pet?! Well, stop gawping, I'm not a complete reptile; I do have a soft spot for warm kitties. In fondue. But seriously folks, there is a new addition to the Schlaack/Haines household, and her name is Skitters, and she is a new mother with three squeaky kittens.
Skitters showed up on our porch about a month ago(?), a scrawny and tweaky little tortoiseshell. We get a lot of strays coming through the neighborhood, looking for handouts; we'd already had one Porch Cat who showed up, stole our hearts, and ran off after a hooker (yer a fuckin traitor, Stanley...)(and I'm not kidding about the hooker). Skitters was different. Skitters was loyal. Skitters was persistent. Skitters was...pregnant. Well, so much for paw prints across our hearts, etc.; cats always have an ulterior motive. But she's stuck in the house now! Bwahahaha!
Anyway, if you know anyone who needs a kitten or two, hit us up in about five weeks when they're ready to wean.
5) CAR. Brakes are, according to the latest opinion polls, pretty damn important; mine had just about fallen off by the time I limped into the body shop. According to the owner, the only thing still in good condition were the front brake pads I'd just replaced. Go figure. Needed: new rotors on the front; shoes, drums, spacer bars, and adjusters (via California) on the backs; brake lines; a new hose. Total: arm, leg. Multiples of same. Don't know where I'm going to get all those body parts, though the hospital is around the corner and looking preeeettty tempting right now. C'est la vie; I made a small business owner extremely happy, and I've got a sparkling new brake system. So it could be worse.
I could be in Houston.
Too soon?
6) Reading/Writing. Yes, my shoals of gawping goldfish, Rick has been known to crack a book once in a while, although the library insisted he stop doing that, it scares the other patrons. I've been on a real Beat kick right now (if you haven't noticed), although it's more in a scholarly bent - that is, I've been reading more about the Beats than of them. I did read Burrough's Queer, which was heartbreaking and funny and excellent; right now I'm reading Ginsberg and Kerouac: the Letters. It's a pretty fascinating read, and I'm going to blog about it as soon as I finish; you get to see into the minds of two seminal Beat writers. Though Ginsberg is the better writer (IMHO, and OUTHO too, so there) Kerouac is the more interesting character - he was really insecure about On the Road, and at one point unleashes a hastily-written diatribe worthy of the Social Media Age. Good stuff. I love Ginsberg's Mexican letters...but I'll tell you all about it later.
I'm also working for Essence Cartoon as a scriptwriter. So far things have been a little sparse, but they're reorganizing and hoping to get me some more work. Here's hoping! I love writing and reviewing and all that sort of thing, and it'd be great if I could make some money off it. I'm not hoping to get famous for writing or anything, since that would overshadow the comics (yeesh, listen to me...) but I'm all about that extra dosh.
OKAY! Enough, enough. Papa's tired. Need food. Need beer. Need...a nice relaxing bath. Can you rent bathtubs? That'd be awesome, kind of. Or disgusting. Would that be like, renting a mattress? But then that's basically what you do in a hotel...huh, okay now I'm just fragmenticating. Talk more later. Nice readers. Be good.
Rick Out (cold).
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