New Schedule

I made some progress today and added some stuff to the list. I still have more to add to it, but this is a start.

EDITING & DESIGN JOBS FOR FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 2
Project Title	Project Deadline
Lettering
AOH #2 Corrections	February 28, 2008
AOH #3	March 1, 2008
Applicants #2	February 29, 2008
Ellium #1 (First Batch)	COMPLETE
Final Shadows #1 Page 5	COMPLETE
Final Shadows Corrections 1-5	COMPLETE
Karma Game #1 Corrections/Finals	February 29, 2008
Mayden #1	February 28, 2008
Merc43 #1	March 2, 2008
Night of Ninjas 8 Pager	March 2, 2008
Nocturnal Essence #5	COMPLETE
Rabverse & Marcus Midnight PDFs	ON HOLD BY CLIENT
Shelter (First Batch)	COMPLETE
Teddy & Yeti Page Correction	COMPLETE
The Veil #1 Pages 6-7	COMPLETE
Wannabez #0	COMPLETE
Logos
Absolute Edition	March 2, 2008
Caggies (contest)	COMPLETE
Epsilon Realm (send)	COMPLETE
Final Shadows	COMPLETE
Haven	COMPLETE
Journeymen	TECHNICAL DELAY
Night of Ninjas	March 2, 2008
Banners
Edison	COMPLETE
Editing
Cadre #6	March 1, 2008
Nocturnal Essence #6	March 2, 2008

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WBZ Project Wonderful Ads

Scott has bid some PW ads, which are now showing on three sites! They may be outbid at any time and disappear, but as I type this, you can find the ads at:

www.goodshipchronicles.com
www.graphicsmash.com
www.dimestoreproductions.com

Yay!

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Somewhat Updated Schedule

I didn't complete as much as I had hoped, and I had to extend a couple, but I still made some progress. I also added some clarification on a few (first batch meaning a set amount of pages).

LETTERING & LOGO JOBS FOR FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 2, 2008
Project Title	Project Deadline
Lettering
AOH #2 Corrections	February 28, 2008
AOH #3	March 1, 2008
Applicants #2	February 29, 2008
Ellium #1 (First Batch)	February 27, 2008
Final Shadows #1 Page 5	COMPLETE
Karma Game #1 Corrections/Finals	February 29, 2008
Mayden #1	February 28, 2008
Merc43 #1 (First Batch)	March 2, 2008
Night of Ninjas 8 Pager	March 2, 2008
Nocturnal Essence #5 (2 pages)	COMPLETE
Rabverse & Marcus Midnight PDFs	ON HOLD BY CLIENT
Shelter (First Batch)	COMPLETE
Teddy & Yeti Page Correction	COMPLETE
The Veil #1 Pages 6-7	COMPLETE
Wannabez #0	COMPLETE
Logos
AE	March 2, 2008
Caggies (contest)	COMPLETE
Epsilon Realm (send)	COMPLETE
Haven	COMPLETE
Journeymen	TECHNICAL DELAY
Night of Ninjas	March 2, 2008

I'm still finishing up the first batch of Shelter pages, and I have a few more to add after all these now. Busy, busy, busy. I'll keep you posted.

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Wannabez #0 Now on Pre-Sale!!!

That's right! Our #0 issue in Mysterious Visions #5 as the cover and lead story (along with Yokai and To Catch a Human) is now up for pre-sale through Dimestore Productions!

Click the title of this post to order your copies now, and click here to read more about it (and see the cover!) on the Wannabez blog!

This is my first writing published, and the first Wannabez story to make it out there, so I do hope you will check it out!

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Caggies Logo Contest

I'll update my schedule later today, but I wanted to share something real quick.

The Comic Artists Guild (CAG) along with the Catch Da Craze Podcast have teamed up to have a logo contest for the CAG Awards, which I have entered. The winner gets $50, an interview and promotion on the podcast, and more. And of course their logo used for the CAG Awards.

So far only two people have submitted, myself being one of them. You can find my seven entries at the bottom of the link attached to the title of this post.

It's not a vote thing I don't think, I just wanted to share with you all. It was fun taking a few minutes out of work to create these logos. I hope you like.

Here's more info on the contest, CAG and Catch Da Craze:


Create a logo to represent the CAG AWARDS aka "The CAGGIES". The Comic Artist Guild is a National Organization whose goal is to make comic book lovers connect and network together on projects, as well as give everyone in the group the opportunity to get exposure.

A logo is needed and we are reaching out to the creative world to create an identity befitting the name. Think Grammies or Oscars meets comics.

Prize: $50 cash for the winning logo plus
1 month free promotion on Catch Da Craze Podcast with an exclusive interview.
Interview on The Comic Book Novice radio Show.
Deadline is Feb 25th 2008 (I think they extended this)
Entries should be sent to Guests@catchdacraze.com
The CAGGIES ceremony to be held in April. More to come.

About the Sponsors:

Catch Da Craze Podcast is a weekly show for independents by independents. Our focus is to promote the individual creators in comics, movies, gaming and more. www.catchdacraze.com

The Comic Book Novice
consists of 4 people. All with a different view of the world of comics. Hosted by Mark Torres, The Comic Book Novice radio show airs each and every Thursday nite @ 9pm est on www.am1240wgbb.com Also, check out our web site www.mfc-studios.com

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Lettering and Logos Updated Schedule

The schedule is updated with what I've completed yesterday and today.

LETTERING & LOGO JOBS FOR FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 2, 2008
Project Title	Project Deadline
Lettering
AOH #2 Corrections	February 25, 2008
AOH #3	March 1, 2008
Applicants #2	February 28, 2008
Ellium #1	February 27, 2008
Final Shadows #1 Page 5	COMPLETE
Karma Game #1 Corrections/Finals	February 29, 2008
Mayden #1	February 27, 2008
Merc43 #1	March 2, 2008
Night of Ninjas 8 Pager	March 2, 2008
Nocturnal Essence #5 (2 pages)	February 24, 2008
Rabverse & Marcus Midnight PDFs	ON HOLD BY CLIENT
Shelter	February 24, 2008
Teddy & Yeti Page Correction	COMPLETE
The Veil #1 Pages 6-7	COMPLETE
Wannabez #0	COMPLETE
Logos
AE	March 2, 2008
Caggies (contest)	February 24, 2008
Epsilon Realm (send)	COMPLETE
Haven	COMPLETE
Journeymen	February 24, 2008
Night of Ninjas	March 2, 2008

So tonight and tomorrow I'll be working on the Feb. 24th items. I'm getting there!

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Of Letters and Logos

I put together a crude schedule for myself yesterday to keep track of all my current lettering and logo commitments for the next week or so. I need to incorporate my editing responsibilities into it as well, but one step at a time.

For now, it's just lettering and logos, and just contains stuff that's actually ready to be worked on at this point. If you are reading this and you notice I've left anything out please let me know. And if there's been a change and you need anything completed sooner, please let me know!

So, as it stands as of today at 5am, the schedule is as follows:

LETTERING & LOGO JOBS FOR FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 2, 2008
Project Title	Project Deadline
Lettering
AOH #2 Corrections	February 25, 2008
AOH #3	March 1, 2008
Applicants #2	February 28, 2008
Ellium #1	February 27, 2008
Final Shadows #1 Page 5	COMPLETE
Karma Game #1 Corrections/Finals	February 29, 2008
Mayden #1	February 27, 2008
Merc43 #1	March 2, 2008
Night of Ninjas 8 Pager	March 2, 2008
Nocturnal Essence #5 (2 pages)	February 24, 2008
Rabverse & Marcus Midnight PDFs	February 23, 2008
Shelter	February 24, 2008
Teddy & Yeti Page Correction	COMPLETE
The Veil #1 Pages 6-7	February 22, 2008
Wannabez #0	February 23, 2008
Logos
AE	March 2, 2008
Caggies (contest)	February 24, 2008
Epsilon Realm (send)	February 22, 2008
Haven	February 23, 2008
Journeymen	February 24, 2008
Night of Ninjas	March 2, 2008

It's not really as much as it sounds, believe me. And aside from editing, this is all I have on my plate right now, so I've got plenty of time to complete it all. But it will keep me busy. :)

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Ice and Idol

Well, the ice storm isn't THAT bad yet, but they did cancel school and various activities tomorrow, so the roads must be a bit treacherous. We've still got power, though, so that's a good thing.

As for American Idol, well, I was really close! Of the guys, Garrett went home, as I thought he would. But I was surprised that Luke didn't. However, when Chikezie and Colton were called up there, I thought for sure it would be Chikezie, but I was wrong. So Colton and Garrett were eliminated.

Now, Colton's performance wasn't great, but I personally thought it was better than the ones by Luke, Chikezie and Jason. Maybe his personality got him voted off? I mean he is kind of bland and vanilla, so who knows?

As for the girls, I was almost right on the money. I picked three bottom girls and named two of them to go home. Well, two of those three did go home, but I got Joanne and Kristy switched in my prediction.

The competition is still fairly where I thought it would be, and so far, America isn't voting too badly. Hopefully that continues.

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American Idol

Yep, I'm hijacking my own blog to talk American Idol. Hey, I like the show, and if I had the chance I would have auditioned before I passed the age limit. In fact, my little cousin said she was going to kidnap me and make me audition next year regardless of my age. Yeah, we'll see. 31 year old Brant (b-day's next month) auditioning for American Idol to compete with 16-28 year olds. Yep, they'll tell me to hit the road...

Anyway, tonight is the first elimination of the top 24. Four people will go home (two guys, two girls). From what I've read online, most think the girls (last night) outdid the boys (Tuesday night) this week. I completely disagree. The bottom 2 of the guys was very clear cut for me, while the girls were a little unclear as there were more than two (more like 5) that could go home.

In my opinion, Garrett and Luke are the guys going home if America voted correctly. Chikezie and Jason would be my next picks, but Garrett and Luke were terrible. At least Chikezie and Jason sang okay - they were just boring.

As for the girls, I hate to say it, but Kristy Lee Cook and Joanne Borgella were my least favorites of the night, followed closely by Amy Davis. Two of those three will go in my opinion, and I'd say Joanne will be the one to stay, but not for her talent. I didn't really care for Brook or Amanda either, though, but I think they are both talented. Heck, I think Kristy and Amy are talented too, but just had really bad nights.

So who did good this week? Well, of the guys, my favorites were David Archuleta, Michael Johns and Jason Castro for different reasons. David is just an amazing singer, while Johns has an awesome voice and unaware confidence. Jason I liked because he was different and not afraid to be himself. He stood out in a good way.

As for the girls, I loved Alaina's performance and her vocals. She, Syesha and Ramiele were the best of the night for me. Kady I thought had a really bad night, and she's got some maturing to do personality wise (she seemed mad at the judges' comments, and that could cost her tonight). Carly was really good as well, I just don't care for her personally. She's got amazing talent, and she probably was one of the best also, just something about her I don't get.

I missed a few, like David Cook and Alexandrea Lushington, who were both unique and good.

Right now my top 12 are David Archuleta, David Cook, David Hernandez, Jason Castro, Michael Johns, Danny Noriega, Ramiele Malubay, Alaina Whitaker, Syesha Mercado, Asia'h Epperson, Carly Smithson and Brooke White. We'll see how close I am as the weeks progress.

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Icey

Why, oh, why is Kentucky bad for ice storms?! It appears we have another one that's supposed to hit today. This morning there was one city in KY that cancelled school, another that was releasing early. Now, the list has grown quite a bit, and my brother's school now let's out at 11:30am.

We've had two really bad ice storms in the past 15 years, and during both of them there was tons of power outages. We were without power for 3 days in the last one, others were without power for anywhere up to 2 weeks! The last one we had after those was a lot milder, but still caused problems.

I'm hoping this one won't be as serious as all that. I mean so far we haven't even gotten any rain or snow since Tuesday (and only a small flurry then), but it's like 15 degrees out right now and it does look like the sky's ready to unleash something at any given moment.

So, while I don't think it will be that serious, if for whatever reason you don't hear from me, that's why. Otherwise I'll definitely be here. What else am I gonna do, right?

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In Case You're Wondering...

I'm lettering and doing logos, and have been for a few days, and will continue doing so throughout the week, while also working out some other exciting stuff that I've alluded to here recently.

That's really all that's up with me.

Oh, and watching Lost of course, and American Idol. What can I say, I'm hooked!

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Dinner Prayer

I came across this on a blog and had to post it. This is so funny to me, and I'm sure most of you will get the hilarity in it. :)




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Staring at the Ceiling

I am starting to dive into the podcast listening world mainly for research. I'm not a big podcast/radio guy - I guess I'm more of a visual person - but I do enjoy them on occasion.

Some of the ones I've been listening to are Comic Geek Speak, Comics Radar and Comic Addiction. I plan on checking out Alter Ego for sure, maybe iFanboy and Indie Spinner
Rack as I find the time (which at present, I have more of than usual - more on that when the time is right).

Podcasts seem to really be hit and miss in my limited listening experience. I haven't really found one yet that I just love every single episode. CGS is probably the closest to that, but they have a bunch of people to feed off each other, which definitely helps. I find that the ones with only one person tend to fall flat a lot more than when there's multiple people to feed off and fill in the gaps. It is definitely an art regardless, and one that I certainly don't have yet from my early experiments with the medium a year or two ago. Whew boy, those were bad! Scratch that - horrendous!


If you haven't guessed yet, yep, still can't sleep. It's 3:30 and I'm up typing a blog because I just can't get to sleep, but I'm too tired to really do anything constructive. Or maybe I'm just lazy? Your call.


I really need an iPod. You know, I've never had a cell phone. I had a pager for a few years, but it belonged to the church, so that didn't really count. And I've only had a portable CD player once a few years ago. I don't think I even ever had a Walkman back in the day. I had a generic little AM/FM radio once upon a blue moon bought at a yard sale, but that's about it. I'm so far behind on the times!


Lost was really good tonight. They raised a lot more questions, but answered some as well. I love this show, and now the whole first season is online for free! I still haven't watched the first season yet...


Is anyone out there watching America's Best Dance Crew on MTV? If not, look up Jabbawockeez on YouTube (the spelling may be wrong). They all wear masks, but their dancing is awesome. Their first audition they did this stop motion explosion type routine at the end that just blew my mind. I like how they incorporate the hip-hop, B-Boy and even Mime into their routines. They are one talented group of guys.


Yep, the random thoughts have taken over, and now I'm even out of them. And I still can't sleep.

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Reconnecting

Occasionally, I'll Google an old friend from high school, college or former work places to see if I can find out what they're up to. Over the years, I've only found one, maybe two people in this manner, so obviously I'm not trying hard or anything. Just something I do when I get nostalgic, bored or miss people is all.

Well, a few days ago for whatever reason I Googled a good friend from college whom I haven't seen since. I had Googled her before, but never really came up with anything. This time, however, I came up with one possibility in California. Now, she used to live in Cali, and I remember her talking about moving back there after college, so I figured, why not. And luckily there was an email, though it was a work email.

So I took a chance, and very diplomatically asked if it was her, and if not I apologized for bothering her.

The next day she responded with two simple lines:

"Brant!

How on earth did you find me?!"

So, of course, it was her! It was very cool to reconnect with her after all these years. Turns out I caught her on a very busy day as it was her last day before taking off to get married this weekend (that seems to happen a lot - me reconnecting with old friends right before they get married...), so she's going to get back to me after all that.

It's kind of surreal because college seems like a lifetime ago, and I really hadn't seen her my last year at all because our majors were different and I was taking night classes. So it's been about, I'd say 7, maybe 8 years since I've seen her or even talked to her.

So that was pretty cool, and I thought I'd share. I got nothing else today save for a case of insomnia going on three weeks now.

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Brand New Day

No, I'm not referring to a Spider-Man story arc with that title. Rather, I am declaring this a brand new day in the life of Brant W. Fowler.

Yeah, okay, that's kind of silly since it IS a brand new day, not just for me, but for everyone. But what I mean is that I've made some decisions recently that have been finalized as of today. Therefore, this is a new start in a way.

If I was taught anything from last week's tragedy it was that time is short, and we don't have a lot of it. We never know what's going to happen, and regrets aren't something I want to carry anymore. And I have a lot of them already, so there's no room for more.

Some decisions I won't talk about openly, but it is beyond time for them to be made, and so I've made them. They start this week... today even. Hence the title if you're not reading along.

One thing I will talk about is what Brant will be doing this year (and yes, I went third person on ya). Brant (see, did it again) will be going to cons this year, for the first time ever! One for sure will be the Ohio Comic Con in Columbus at the end of October. Scott and I will have a table in Artist's Alley and will have Wannabez merchandise, among other stuff, available!

We are also considering going to Indyfest USA on September 21st, also in Ohio, which is run by Dimestore Production's Ian Shires. We haven't made a decision on that one yet, but if we do, we'll also have a table there.

I am still contemplating making Wizard World Chicago and meeting up with my boy, Chuck while I'm at it. Lance from Rogue Wolf Entertainment (and now with Cold Cut Distribution) also lives in Chicago, so I'll meet up with him to if I go. That one's in June I.

And if I can possibly swing it (pray for a miracle), I'd love to make it to Wizard World Texas IF my buddy, Cary is going this year, mainly just to meet and hang out with him. That one's in November.

On top of the cons though, Cary and I are talking about going to Australia, and while we're there, meeting up with yet another good pal, Jason.

So if everything works out, this is going to be an exciting year for me. A busy one, but an exciting one!

There are several other things I will be changing and soon, but I can't talk about them right now. Just stay tuned, this will be my year.

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Dealing

Thanks for all the well wishes, condolences, and so forth. This past week was extremely hard for me. As my brother and mother can attest, I pretty much locked myself in my room for 3 days straight trying to cope with what had happened. I couldn't even make it to the funeral. I just couldn't face it. Maybe if I had seen him over the course of the past two years I would have been okay, but not seeing him, and then seeing him like that... I just couldn't do it. I understand that funerals are for the living more than anything, and believe me, it tore me up not being there for the family, but I just couldn't. I hope they can understand.

My mother and brother went to visitation, and my cousin went to the funeral. From what I hear, there were a lot of people there including friends, family, church members and more. And because he was in the National Guard he got the salute and so forth. He had also won medals, which were delivered to his parents prior I understand.

It's been over a week now, and it still just doesn't seem real. When his obituary was posted in the paper and on the paper's website, it became very real for me as up to that point it felt so far away. That was when I finally broke and just shut myself in so to speak. He was just so young and had so much potential. But I have to believe that God is far more wise than I and knew what his future beheld.

The other night I was all alone in the house and it was late at night (this was Friday night, the night before the funeral), and I felt a presence. Now, I don't really believe in ghosts, but I do believe in angels, demons, God and Satan. And so I've felt presences plenty of times, but this was different. I could have sworn I saw Michael walking up the stairs towards me just for a second. Now, I know the mind can play tricks, and that's probably typical in grief, and as I said, I don't necessarily believe in ghosts per se. But it was just a strange sensation. I don't know if it was my imagination, or if it was God letting me know he's okay. Whatever it was, it kept me up all night. Not out of fear, but because basically since it happened every time I close my eyes, I see his face. I've barely slept all week.

But I'm getting better. I got back into work in the latter part of the weekend and yesterday. I'm bouncing back, though I'm sure it will be a LONG time before I accept this completely.

Again, thanks for everyone's support and understanding, you all have been great.

Everything else in my life is moving steadily along right now, and I will resume updates throughout this week.

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True Loss

I am finding it hard to formulate words at the moment, so forgive me if this comes off less than eloquent or even intelligent.

I have lost a loved one tonight, my former pastor's 19 year old son, a kid I knew all his life, and loved like a brother. I really have no words to describe what I feel as I am very numb, and none of it is real to me yet. I hadn't seen him in a couple of years, and now I never will again.

My heart, my love and my most earnest prayers go out to the Lee family and all the friends and loved ones of Michael Lee.

As the song goes, Michael, "every step I take, every move I make... every single day, every time I pray I'll be missing you". My only solace is that you are a child of God, and I know you are in a better place. I love you, brother, and I will miss you until we meet again.

Update: The obituary is linked to the title of this post.

The Rain's a Fallin'

Man, it is storming something fierce here today! It's so bad it woke me up, and I typically sleep through stormy weather, even intense weather. But the thunder is booming out there, man, and the rain's coming down fast and hard. So, if you don't hear from me (if you email me or whatever) you know the power or internet has gone out or something.

So far, nothing is even flickering. The internet hasn't stalled or anything, and the power hasn't given in to the storm, but it's still early.

We borrowed Rush Hour 3 from my aunt last night, so I finally got to watch that. I love the Rush Hour movies, and the team of Chan and Tucker are just magic, so I was looking forward to this one. Though, I have to say, some of the jokes were getting old. Still an enjoyable flick, but not as good as the first two, and I hope it's a while before another one is made, or that they at least find a fresh direction for the series. As I said, Tucker and Chan are a great team.

Lost is back on for 8 episodes, and it's off to a great start in my estimation. Smallville and Supernatural are also back on, and both are just ok so far.

I made a dent into lettering this weekend completing two shorts, a logo and half an issue, and some other small stuff, so I felt good about myself. :)

I have the feeling that today is going to be a LONG day. Could be the fact that I only had about 3 hours of sleep, and thanks to the storm waking me up, now I can't get back to sleep. Yep, that could have something to do with it...

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Some Links to My Stuff

I just happened to do a search on myself tonight and found one of the books I lettered for sale here, and one that was given a mini review here (third post down). Just thought I'd share. :)

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More eBaying

New Comic Auctions up at eBay! Please check them out and buy a few!

Teen Titans #34 Variant

Justice League of America #1-2, 4-10 Variants

Justice Society of America #2-5, 8 Variants

X-23: Target X #1 Signed by Mike Choi (1 of 200)

New Avengers: Illuminati #1

Annihilation #1 Variant

Fallen Angel #16 Retailer Incentive Cover by J.K. Woodward

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Space Between #3 & 5 Variants

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #40-41 Variants

Mystery in Space #1 Variant

Superman/Batman #37 Variant

Wonder Woman #1 Variant

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Some Good News Coming

Two pretty exciting things happened today for me, both involving my writing in a way. So I'm pretty stoked. This is the best day I've had in a while.

I can't really talk about either yet, but just stay tuned as hopefully both lead to some cool things.

Man, I have so much in the works for this year it's unbelievable. I just hope the good fortune continues.

I also picked up a typing gig for some extra cash, and of course I'm still doing lettering (finishing up some stuff today, then got a whole issue this weekend to complete) and finishing up some logos.

So things are good and moving along, in case anyone was wondering. Please keep reading, because as things progress and I'm able to talk about it all, I'll be posting it right here.

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