Polyproject Making a comeback?

So along time ago I created this idea of the "Polyproject". Which was this idea to do a multitude of projects at one time. It worked for a bit. Actually no, to be honest, it didn't. I was too young or too unorganized and distracted, I don't know what. So I stopped and did a sort of sporadic working on of projects for a bit which didn't work out so well as well. Then finally these past few months I said, "No more!" and decided to focus all my attention on one project: my novel, "A Little Valentinus in your Samahain". This worked amazingly! I actually completed the damn thing and am now in the process of sending out queries to get an agent for publication. Yet now after I've finished the novel I am starting to do multiple things at once again, but more organized than before. Now for the past year and two months I've been hardcore keeping track of my ideas and need for multiple creative endeavors to get done and this has helped tremendously. So I'm almost starting to think I can introduce the "Polyproject" back into my mind-flow. I'll let you know how this goes.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas eve! Tonight if you're like me you'll be out and about frolicking from family home to family home! Eating hams and cookies galore and drinking your weight in eggnog and hot cocoa, the sweet nectar of the kings! May the children laugh and play and may the adults chuckle and rejoice in the chaotic disastrous fun that can only be had when all the members of your large family are together!
Let grandma get into that bottle of Blue Nun early and may it turn into the "black Nun" (inside joke); let aunt Cheri get a little wilder than she normally lets herself be, may aunt Carolyn get wild and start dancing like a spaz, the uncles and your step father and grandpa will turn into a bull pen of men who tell stories of old and drink like warriors! Your wife will become the life of the party after a few drinks of wine and cheer, the traditional game of charades and newly-weds will get uproarious with laughter as the men struggle to remember tidbits about their spouses!
As we laugh and eat and cheer with our cups of cocoa, wine and eggnog let us be thankful for all of our blessings and the time we get with our families, for they're are always special and let us be ready for the big man in red to come a bustling with gifts for all! I still believe for one, the Christmas spirit is not elusive, it lives in all of us, let us remember the whole year through!! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!

Holiday Feeling

NEW HARTFORD, NY- Alone out in the pouring rain I struggled. It had been three days since I noticed my headlight going out and my wife was on me to get it fixed. She was right of course, it needed to be dealt with. Not only because I feared getting a ticket so close to Christmas but for safety reasons as well. It of course made it difficult to see at night and guide my vehicle on these winter roads of central New York. I was concerned especially for when my wife drives it.

So the first stop I made was over to Advanced Auto Parts to get the right bulb. I figured I was in for an easy fix. I had replaced the bulbs in my rear lights many a time and was accustom to the knowledge needed to fix it. So I go in and ask the guy what kind of bulb I need, he gets it, easy. I go out to my car, lift up my hood and prop it, as I look at my headlight I notice a long screw in it keeping it attached. No problem, I go to my trunk and get out my tools, well I try every ratchet head I have and wouldn't you know I have the wrong size, of course.

Now I'm texting every friend I have if they have a ratchet set. None of them do. This happened to me last time when I thought I needed a jump and none of them had jumpers, of course I hadn't had any either. This I realize is a bit of a problem, it seems that the men of my generation and around it are insanely unprepared when it comes to having tools, at least in my circles. So this brings me to Sears.

Finally I get to Sears and I buy a small ratchet set for $8, I get out to my car, prop the hood up, get the right ratchet and unscrew the screw, easy. So now the headlight is supposed to just slide out straight easily, well I'm pulling on it, I'm pulling on it and the damn sucker just won't come out. This little family comes out to the mini van parked in front of me and they get in their vehicle. Now I'm still struggling away at this thing because after all the trouble of getting the bulb and the right ratchet set I'll be damned if I'm this close and I don't fix it, the family however is still there just watching me from inside their car. Rain is pouring down on me, I'm frustrated to no end, I'm thinking, 'why doesn't this guy and his adorable family get out of here and stop staring at me, probably laughing, I know I would be'. What does the guy do? He gets out of his car and asks if I need help, not only him but his wife too! I'm like, 'yeah if you wouldn't mind', they're like, 'not at all'. So now this random couple and I are all struggling for minutes what feels like hours. Finally we get the sucker out, I figure out which light it is and as it turns out it was just a little loose and the light pops on! I didn't even have to change it! So I thank the family very much and wish them happy holidays and new year and we part ways.

That situation really made me thankful for kindness in strangers, its rare but it does happen! The holidays are a great time of year when people really think of their fellow man and wish all a joyful time! It's not just in movies and TV shows and books, its out there in real life! So here's to wishing everyone  a  joyous and love filled holiday and new year!!

Scrooges be out There

I'm in the post office today in New York Mills, NY sending out a package last minute for Christmas of course and there's this old guy in there talking with the clerk. He says, "So did I tell you there's this new pill you take."
The clerk looks at him and chuckles, "You're crazy Mikey."
"Why?" he turns to me, "There's this new pill, you take it and you fall asleep and wake up January second."I laugh a bit just trying to be friendly.
The clerk says, "I wouldn't take that, why would you want to?"
Mikey leans back and scratches at his long grey beard, "I would! Christmas, bah humbug! The holidays are horrible, Scrooge had the right idea. He's my hero, Scrooge. I mean God forbid someone sends you a card and you don't send one back, you might as well have shot them!" he chuckles.
I laugh a bit to myself and say, "Boy are you in for a long night. If I were you I'd pick up some of those five hour energy things."
Mikey looks at me a bit funny and cocks his head to the side, "What-why?"
"Well," I smirk, "If three spirits were going to visit me at all hours of the night to take me on all sorts of fantastical journeys to show me shadows of past, present and future until I reached a moral high ground toward my fellow man and the holiday season, I'd want to be well awake. Just saying."
He looks at me and just starts laughing! Everyone laughed including me!

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Tree Decorating Party

 

Each and every year my good friend over at www.unconventionalmakeup.blogspot.com hosts a lovely little holiday party called a "Tree Decorating" party. Essentially its exactly what it sounds like but its more just like any holiday party. I'd like to tell you about this lovely thing and suggest that you and your friends have one as well.

 

How it works:

 

1. One individual hosts the party.
2. Each person brings an ornament for the tree under $5
3. The host provides party food, drinks and entertainment
4. Invite only unless approved by the host
5. Everyone has a grand time

Easy as Christmas no-bake cookies! Happy Holidays my friends! Cheers!

Happy Holiday Illustrations

Christmas is coming! Soon all shall be merry and cheery and white! So naturally the season to gifts that are straight from the heart is upon is all! I have decided to give certain members of my family who live in a far off land illustrations to commemorate my feelings and theirs as well toward certain things.

The main illustration is for my step-mom/whole family. You see, recently their dog had to be put down because of medical complications. We all took it hard of course but my step mother seemed to most of all. My father and I thought it would be a terrific idea to do a sort of portrait of our beloved, Buddy.

Here I share with you the pencils of the Buddy illustration I call, "Saint Buddy". Also some shots of the other ones as well. I plan on doing individual blogs on each so look forward to those! And shhhh don't tell my family this is on my blog! Happy Holidays! Cheers!

For the Holidays

                  Looking so forward to this holiday season, and cannot wait for all the food! Very excited because of all the gifts I get to give everyone and the food, oh yeah, might have already said that! Merry Holiday Season! Santa's told me that it's all going good so far and well, I've been making my way to his location so far. Having one heck of a time too. I hitched a ride from a dwarf earlier this month and got no where. Apparently it's legal to drink and sleigh in his neck of the woods or at least that's what he told me? Soon though I shall arrive and help Santa....for next year. I'm going to arrive there far too late. Alas, me mates. As soon as I get my scanner I will upload my illustrations I've done for this season. Cheers!            

Creator Owned Hobbits Christmas

So here is the thing. I am a creator. I like to create different worlds, characters, situations, scenes, history and etc. So once again I am venturing off into the world of creator-owned comics and graphic novel-hood. Starting finally with my stories involving a character I've been developing since I was, well, sixteen. His name is Ananami (which I had though I came up with originally, but recently due to an impromptu web search discovered other people have named their characters that as well. Oh well.) and he has gone through many different changes. As I have, and my characters and stories tend to develop along with myself. So here I am with his current carnation and story: Blood Tales. It's going to be awesome. My plan is to develop all the necessities for a package to be sent to Slave Labor Graphics. I'm going to make sure it's amazing and professional and everything. As soon as I get a large format all in one printer (I've been eying a specific one at my local Staples) I will upload images of my progress and maybe some vlogs covering it as well (inspired by Skottie Young's blog).

On another note I have been doing a lot of sketching lately which have culminated into beautiful completed illustrations. All of them are Christmas themed as I am inspired to do so. These I will upload once I have said printer as well. I am using the color theme of reds and greens as per the color themes of the season after all. I'm going for cartoony simplicity. It's difficult sometimes because I've developed two different styles over the years. One strictly for cartoons and one for what I consider comic book style art, even though that is subjective. But this is how I keep them categorized in my mind ha ha.

I've recently been very inspired with a renewal in the love for J.R.R. Tolkien's stories, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and his other works. Great, great novels, fantasies, poems, films, just everything. I love it all and wish to create such rich illustrious characters and stories and histories as he has and hope to learn more from him and other authors I adore as well. I have also been reaching deeper into my Art History books from college as well. So much more can be learned from these resources than what was taught in my college classes. I have a lot to learn and a lot to do. For it's more important to actually show that you're doing something you love than just to talk about it I believe.