I actually sort of expected that someone from AFI, or the whole band, would end up in Green at some point, and it was pretty much my only hope (short of scalpers, and fuck them) of getting into the show, so I was pretty goddamned stoked when it worked out. Hunter was really nice, and didn't need to do that at all.
Okay, sleep now.
I seriously hate this drawing. It took me from about midnight to 2AM to even figure out what to draw, and then when I did, it looked like this, and I hate it.
I'm still reeling over the news of Salinger's death. I realize he was quite old, and that he had a good run, but it's still a bummer. I really like Franny & Zooey, and I also really like Catcher In The Rye. Honestly, I'm not sure I've had enough time to recover from Vonnegut's death. So, yeah, thanks a lot, universe.
I definitely realize that Howard Zinn died, as well, but I haven't gotten around to reading his stuff yet, so I'm not going to pretend that I was a fan. I recognize who he is and what he did though, and he is also a great loss.
And the show goes on without them.
I really, really wanted to do something else in this panel, but it was way more personal, and it wasn't involving only me, so it would have been unfair to post it the next day in my auto-bio comic, and the person in question probably wouldn't have been excited about it. Which is totally understandable.
If you don't get why I think this is funny, google search what the hearts are saying. If it's still not funny, understand that it's hard coming up with an interesting panel based on real life every day. Also understand that you are a Cold Hearted Snake with no sense of humor.
I just confirmed the date and location for the SJO Year One release party. You should definitely go if you want to get your hands on a copy of the book before the release date of Wednesday, February 17th, and you don't want to pay an extra few bucks for shipping.
I initially ordered 10 copies. I needed:
1 for me
1 for Liz
1 for my brother
1 for my parents
1 for my boss/friend
1 for Cosmic Monkey in Portland
2 for Challengers Comics in Chicago
1 for a rep in the NY area
4 for Samurai Comics
and
1 for Ash Ave. Comics
If you are any good at math, you know that I basically have negative copies right now. I also had one copy slightly damaged, and have made a list of other shops around the globe to contact about carrying it. I just ordered another 25 to cover the negative numbers and, mostly, to prepare for the SJO Year One release party that will be held on Friday, February 12th. (Time and location on that will be coming in the next week or so, so keep watch here if you wanna know about it.)
As I'm sure you've guessed, I've sunk around $200 into this so far, having ordered the initial two draft copies, then ordering 10, and now 25 more. I'm hoping to see some of the money come back my way upon release, because I'm trying really hard to be on top of my finances, and am actually doing a good job. A $200 hit isn't what my wallet needs right now.
Seriously stoked though.
This is probably one of my favorite panels. I will admit that it didn't take me anywhere near as long as a lot of other panels this month (as evidenced by the simple background), and I realize now that I should have drawn it growing out of a pile of dung, or possibly a tree (hindsight is 20/20), but I still really like it, and it makes me remember that, quite often, the concept is as important as, if not more important than, the delivery.
Provided the delivery even occurs.
Yes, I did it! I finally saw Napoleon Dynamite! Is everyone happy now? God! This panel is probably about you or someone close to you. Don't get offended, now! Thinnk about how many panels are about how stupid I am! Wait...I don't even wanna think about that. Stop thinking about that. Don't think about how stupid I am. I am not stupid. I am a very smart man, full of great ideas.
It rained absurdly hard today, just like it did three years ago today. (That's the best part of doing a daily panel. I get to say "epic" things like, "Three years ago today...")
Of much greater import than that though, I will probably never get over how awesome this is.
My name sucks.
Brandon Huigens and I just started a new comic called Bong Otter. After one of us posts, the other has a week to post. Should be fun stuff.
I really wish I could just sleep instead of doing this comic. Just one night. That's all I ask. Oh, but how disappointed in myself I would be. Hopefully, now that I'm doing just one thing a day, I can get in the groove a little more and start drawing the panel earlier on days when something happens early enough, and I don't work until 10PM.
When I bought the PC in question, it was with the intention of it being sort of my "junk computer". Sure, it cost me a few hundred dollars, but it's a frigging Gateway.
It's a wonder the thing didn't explode a year after I got it.
At any rate, it has become a little more important. A few months back, I got Fruity Loops and started programming Satan's Monk songs on it, so I freaked out a little when things went wrong. I managed to email myself all the files of my FL programming, and I reinstalled the OS. It turned out that I wasn't aware I had a free upgrade from FL8 to FL9, so now that all is said and done (I hope), it actually benefited me, and I'm sort of glad it happened.
I forgot to bring my markers over to Liz's, and had to use hers. I'm pretty bummed on this drawing. It's not up to par at all, but at least I got it done!
I had a really fun night playing with the band. It's been way too long, and I feel like this was our best show yet. Having Brady singing and Andy playing bass makes the live experience way different, and I really am happy with the result. I'm looking forward to future shows quite a bit.
I saw Between The Buried And Me tonight, as well. They were really, really good, and I wanted to do my panel about that, but this was just too crazy to not do my panel about it. I would go into detail, but I has headache, and want sleep.
I had a super long day. Straight from work to band practice, then home to sleep alone. Sure, some of it was a good time, but sleeping alone is dumb, no matter how you cut it.
I was initially going to do my panel about Royal Monsters practice, but when she said what she said, I just felt like it would make for a way better panel. Besides, Royal Monsters will practice again soon. Kellen is leaving soon though, so that kinda sucks.
I've got a new comic in the works with my good friend Brandon Huigens. I'll be making a fuss about it soon enough. If you're savvy, I'm sure you can track it down on your own.
This wizard represents the general stoniness of the entire day.
I'm starting to miss doing my panels about multiple things each day. It seems like Screw Jeff Owens is a different beast now. I don't feel as though it is as much of a diary as it was before. Ultimately, I consider that to be a good thing, and I hope that, the longer I spend with it, the more entertaining I can make it. I even hope that trying a little harder to draw a little better most days of the week could make me a better artist. Who knows? Maybe one day I can do and actual "sequential" story. Wouldn't that be something? An honest to goodness comic book!
The real reason I'm missing doing each panel about multiple things is that I'm not writing as much as I used to. I guess the best solution to that is to make sure I sit behind a keyboard, or put a pen(cil) in my hand a little more often.
Despite the fact that Terry Gilliam is my favorite director, I managed to not hear one word about this film until today, when Liz suggested it. I also managed to have no idea it was a Gilliam film until the credits rolled. Duh.
If you would like a peek at Dave, click here. It cost me less than twenty bucks, and I'm pretty damned happy about it.
I'm finding that doing only one thing a day makes it easier sometimes, but it can also make it harder, but it makes it take longer almost every night, without fail. I really have to sit and think about what part of my day I'm going to choose to make a panel out of. Once I've done that, I still need to figure out how the panel's going to look, then I am set to the task of trying to make it look like it does in my head, which is possible about half the time, if I'm lucky. And more than half of those times, I still don't think it looks quite right. So, while it makes it easier, because I don't have to remember my whole day, it makes it harder, for a long list of reasons, not the least of which is that I seem to be up after three in the goddamned morning every day of 2010, thus far.
As much as I love it, I loathe this damned thing, and it is a curse, of sorts, that I have put on myself.
After almost a week of doing this, I have decided that it's a whole lot harder to just do it about one thing each day than it is to go over everything that happened every day. Unfortunately, I am happy with the results thus far, so I will probably continue with the more difficult format. I suppose it's not a bad thing though, as I was beginning to feel like I was just going through the motions with SJO, and a challenge isn't a bad thing.
I spent many hours last night, and into this morning (at around 5AM) getting the second draft of SJO Year One done. I've ordered my copy, and am hoping this is the final version. February 17th is the tentative release date for it. I will probably order a couple of copies for a couple of local shops, but for the most part, it will be ordered through Lulu only, so I'll be sure to provide a link to purchase it the second it's released. It might be before the 17th, but it will be no later!
The price point on it will be $12. I really wanted to do it cheaper, but after I calculated some things, I realized that it had to be $12, which sucks, but hey, that's $1 a month, which is what the original issues cost, and it will be in a much more sleek looking package with a full-color cover, not to mention the "exclusive" (found on his website) introduction by my very own brother. Depending on how well this goes, there may be even more collections in the future. I'm guessing there will be even if it goes just a little okay.
Liz rules. I got season two a couple months back, and we've been pretty heavily into the show since then. I had actually never watched season one though. I was talking about buying it a lot lately, so she beat me to it! It's interesting that Toki's voice evolved so much over the first season. I had no idea.
Make sure you are on a computer that runs well if you're gonna play Tuper Tario Tros., because it's pretty tedious at a slow speed.
Wow, I thought I posted this yesterday, but I guess not! Sorry! I've been trying to keep on top of posting the new panels every day.
The plan from here on out is to do each day's panel about just one thing that happened that day. I'm going to try to make it as enjoyable as possible, but, a) my memory is horrid, so I'll probably forget a slew funny things that happen most days and, b) sometimes, there just aren't any entertaining things that happen in a day.
I'm sorry, but I have to gloat for a second. It feels really good to have finished three years of this, without missing a day. I don't really think that Screw Jeff Owens is some great, life-changing comic that people from all over will read, but it is a sort of journal of my life. Of every single day of the last three years of my life. I can't help but feel that I've accomplished something, and my life has been a relentless series of failures, so it just feels nice to finally have a few things going right. I've got a the raddest girlfriend ever, I've got a couple of really, really fun bands, and now I have three years of this under my belt.
I'll be changing the size of the panels that I draw in, but they'll probably still look the same once they're scanned in, so I will probably be the only one that really notices the difference.
Ghost Lab is pretty awesome, even though the guys on the show are a little testosteroney, and should probably calm down. They seem to get a lot of really good EVP. I dunno. I think it's cool. But I'm a nerd.
