Having a Merry Dougmas

Sooooo, it's that time of year again, time to celebrate the year something awesome came to this earth and rocked everyone's socks right off...
We almost didn't make it up to DL this weekend.  The weather was getting iffy and there was a winter storm watch in our area throughout Sunday.  I timed everything out just right, however, and by the time it started snowing, we were safely at my dad's place.  Unfortunately, Kevin and April couldn't make it.  They couldn't leave until Saturday AND Kevin got the family flu, so they had a lot working against them. Janelle wanted to make it out, too, but that damned weather kept her from leaving her own driveway.
Tab & Derek came, and Jess made it out, too.  Tab made me this cake you're ogling, and there's pictures floating around of me going in headfirst for the first bite.  The cake was delicious, the company was fun, it was a great sendoff to being 30.  AND I wasn't even hung over the next morning (or right now). 
Happy B'Day to me!

The Apparel of a Comic Musician

I finally got a new shirt at C'Mon Inn. We got new doug-awful uniforms in, deep-blue abortions we call shirts, but I don't have to wear them on account of my lowly position. I did, on the other hand get to nab one of the old button-up work shirts, so I finally get to wear a shirt I want to wear to work. Don't take this away from me, it's awesome. And don't look at me like that, either. Fuck you, it's a cool shirt. Stop snickering, seriously. And say that to my face! As soon as I'm done crying, I'll kick your ass!
Anyway, I should have another page of Banjo's Tune up by Friday. For some reason, I've been...working on it. I know, weird. During November and December, I'd been having a helluva time trying to get around to getting another page drawn up, but it feels a little better now. Plus the light/shadow is drawn better lately than in the first few pages of this chapter. I really should be drawing it on larger paper, but whatever. That's the kinda guy I am.
I finally got Golden Brown all revised, now I'm considering what I could possibly do with with it. I'm seriously thinking publishers won't give it a second look, at least not without wanting to cut certain parts out and making me put professional lettering in, which I'm not willing to do. My whole intention was to do all this old-school, even the lettering. Self publishing is an option, but I have to figure out who's reputable and who isn't. Plus, there's a lot of steps I have to take on my own, including press, and I don't know if I'm up for that.
I was contacted a few weeks back by a guy who wanted to get together and jam--he and his drummer friend are looking to set up a psychobilly group, which is right down my alley! I've been burned before by guys who say they wanna jam and then ignore my e-mails, but this one actually seems interested, and he bought an upright bass to learn on. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but not holding my breath.

Been, Becoming

Birthday is coming up! Karissa asked me to pick what I want for my birthday supper, but I'm having a helluva time with it. I like damn near everything she makes, so it's hard to pick out a particular dish from that. I can't wait for tax time. I know, you read it right. I can't wait. I actually enjoy doing my taxes, once I have everything in front of me. It's mostly due to the fact that I get money back, not gonna lie. But I also like the fact that I don't have a lot to research. I don't have a lot of assets, we live fairly simple. We don't need an accountant or tax preparer for that kind of lifestyle.
I didn't really say anything about the holidays lately, I've noticed. I've taken a typically bleeding heart position on Thanksgiving, I don't care much about X-Mas (maybe I've heard too much talk from conservative Christians about how their holiday with its pagan traditions and Jesus' nonbirthday being undermined by other religions who want to be acknowledged around the same time, or maybe because I'm atheist and don't care about any religion this time of year). Visiting family is great, but it's also nice to spend holidays at home and actually relax.
New years brings an equal amount of enthusiasm. I remember celebrating the millenium and having to drive to Churchs Ferry hung over to attend Amadon & Reyna's wedding before he took off for AIT. It was fun at the time (except for the hangover part), but I could think of a million better things to celebrate than the passing of a year. My birthday, for example. Okay, so that's also celebrating the passing of a year, but it's so much more significant.
I'm turing 30 this year. It's weird to think of leaving my 20's behind. I loved being a "twenty-something". I'm now hitting an age where I should be set in my career, and where am I? I'm still working nights, still paycheck to paycheck. I'm not even playing in a band right now, or drawing a paying comic. I'm working on both, but I had hoped for more by this time.
Who can I blame but myself, though? I lolligagged with comics, and lost my interest in playing music for a while. Right now my passion in both couldn't be stronger, but I feel like I gotta make up for lost time.
Speaking of which, a new page of Banjo's Tune will be up early tomorrow. Read it. I also managed to post a lengthy review on my movie blog. Read that, too. It's hard to keep up the movie blog, but every time I do, I find it's at the very least, an effective writing exercise. The more I do it, the more aware I become of other little aspects in other movies.

Snow, Jobs, and Comic Relief...

I really can't wait for summer--or at least spring, when the roads are clear and residentials aren't reduced to one lane to squeeze through.
We hired on a couple new people at C'Mon Inn over the past month, and they've both turned out to be morons. One is a front desk guy who vaccuumed up live embers from the fireplace and started the vaccuum on fire, the other was hired for day-maintenance and still doesn't know how to do the pool/hot tub chemicals. On the bright side, they don't really do anything that directly inconveniences me, so I'm not too affected by it.
I got a new page of Banjo's Tune coming out tomorrow, yay! I got the outline & scripting done for the next page, too, so hopefully I can get back to some kind of weekly basis. HOPEFULLY.
Exactly 20 days until my birthday! Only about 15 days until big party! I'm excited.