Happy Thanksgiving!!!

To everyone out there I once again wish you a wonderful and safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Now go eat some good food, spend some quality time with your loved ones, and just be thankful for everything you have.

God Bless.

B-Out

What I'm Thankful For - 2008 Edition

It's that time of year again where we're all supposed to note what we're thankful for as we come together with family and friends, share some good food and company, maybe watch a game if you're into that, and just be content. So of course, I have to honor the tradition in my own way by posting right here for all to see.

Now, I could take a comical approach with a list of oddball things I'm thankful for. I could wax serious with a heartfelt pouring out of my soul. Or I could just keep things simple, say a massive thanks to everyone and then be on my way.

Well, why limit myself, right? I'm in a good mood today for some strange reason, and this is my blog, so I can get away with doing it all if I want. You can't stop me. You might not read it, but that's just a chance I'm going to have to take (PLEASE don't leave me!).

So, let's start it off like this: just in case I miss anyone or anything in my further missives, let me lay out a blanket thanks to everyone who's done anything for me at all, be it a thought, a helping hand, a prayer or what have you. Thank you, and have a great holiday.

Okay, so that's one out of the way. Next up, let's take a look at some things I'm especially thankful for this year.

1. I'm thankful for cheese. Yes, I said it. I LOVE cheese! Deal with it. (cheese is yellow).

2. I'm thankful for those sidewalk Santas doing their thing, and all the volunteers wearing flashing noses. They may look like complete idiots, but at least they're idiots for a good cause.

3. I'm thankful for the biggest little state in the world, Kentucky, who thinks they are better and cooler and bigger than they are. If you live here, you know what I'm talking about. Wake up, Kentucky, we will never be New York or any other big state like that with their big cities! Stop trying so hard! But I love ya (no I don't). :)

4. I'm thankful for peanut butter and jelly, and Reese's peanut butter cups. I can't eat either anymore, but whoever thought of putting chocolate or jelly with peanut butter is a king in my eye!

5. I'm thankful for modern technology, without which I would not have the patience to cook and would be one bored son of a gun!

6. I'm thankful for Skrulls. Just because.

7. I'm thankful for people worse off than me because then I don't feel as bad. Wait, that didn't come out right. Okay, moving on...

8. I'm thankful for Madonna who shows us we can all be gracefully old, or is that an old disgrace?

9. I'm thankful for Britney Spears who has confirmed to the world that our nation cares more about celebrities than anything else in-the-world! I'm also thankful that she's shown us we can all be rich and famous without any talent and by making every bad choice we can possibly make! (I kid, seriously - I hope she's getting it back together - had to throw in the pop culture references)

10. And I'm thankful for Steven Colbert, Barrack Obama, Seth Green and Mike Meyers who show us the funkiest looking of us can be anything we want to be!

This list has been brought to you by the letter "T" and the number "2". Why? I haven't the foggiest.


On a more serious note, this has been a very eventful year for me. More eventful, in fact, than the last five years have been. It started off like every other year, and I wasn't doing to great like the previous four. Then things started changing before my eyes and I regained hope, vision and faith. Oddly enough, had it not been for two chance events this year would have most likely been no different.

The first of which was my gall bladder attack in March, right before my birthday. It was a wake up call for many things. It scared me, and it made me think about things. I seriously thought I was dying at one point as I couldn't breathe at all and was in so much pain I couldn't stand it. I was very close to passing out. So I am thankful that happened because it did something inside of me, aside from causing me much pain. And it gave me a name to put to the pain I had been in for the two previous years.

That combined with a job offer I got the next month really set the course for my year. I had to have some dental work done before I could go on the trip for the job (to Georgia), and I might not have done that had I not had the attack. It's too complicated and personal for me to explain that here, but suffice it to say that both occurrences got me off my butt to do something about things, and I haven't looked back since.

So even though the job ended up not working out, I'm thankful to Tales of Wonder for the offer and the trip, which they paid for. It was a great experience. Not to mention I got to see my dad for the first time in years while I was down there. We reconnected, buried old issues, and probably for the first time in our lives, we became friends with mutual respect for one another, which is more than I could have asked for. I'm a grown man now, and it's nice to know that my dad, though far away, is a part of my life in some way.

After that trip I set it in my mind that I would make it to Wizard World Chicago, a comic convention, regardless of whether I got the job or not, and I did, thanks to Scott Simmons who picked me up and went with me, and Chuck Moore who provided me with a press pass. Within the first 15 minutes of the show I had landed a lettering gig with Image, and throughout the weekend I made numerous contacts and new friends, and got to sit in on some cool interviews. I also got to finally meet internet buddy Chuck Kennedy for the first time and go out to eat a couple of times, further strengthening the friendship that we have.

I could go on and on about Mid-Ohio-Con, getting Wannabez published, finding a new online home at Comic Related and a new friend in Chuck Moore, and so on and so forth, but you all know all this already, and I don't want to waste your time.

So let me wrap it up by saying that this year has brought me great strides from where I was, both in attitude and in spirit. I was down and depressed for at least three, maybe four years and didn't see a way out. This year that has all turned around. I'm still struggling with things, and my circumstances still have a long way to go, but if anything, this year, all that has happened, and everyone I've had the chance to meet has given me hope and restored my faith. I feel blessed for the first time in a long time, and that's a feeling I never want to let go of again.

So to all you who have contributed in any way, small or large, to my good fortune this year, whether you know it or not, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. And a special thanks to: Cary Kelley, Jason Berek-Lewis, Chuck Kennedy, Scott D.M. and Shannon Simmons, Chuck Moore, Ray Hickson, Jenny and Josh Goguen, Lance Stahlberg, Jeff McClelland, Jason Moser, Jeff Kipnis, Christopher Joe, Jeff Mariotte, Kris Simon, Jim Valentino, Sean Taylor, Brent Sprecher, Itai Rosenbaum, Bob Hickey, Mark and Jonna LeMieux, Bill Gladman, Victor Carungi, Steve Seirer, Grant Chastain, Tracy Duty, William Turner, Peter Aitken, Andy and anyone else I've left out (please forgive me if I have, it's a long list). Without you all, this year wouldn't have been as successful and promising as it has.

To all of you out there celebrating it, have a very Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy your time with your loved ones - if the unfortunate losses my friends have suffered recently, and the many losses in my past have taught me anything it's that we don't have nearly enough time with those we love. Make it count.

May you all be richly blessed this year and beyond.

B-Out

It's November!

You know, I forgot to mention last month, but October of this year marked two years I've been posting to this blog! So I've now passed the two-year mark, and I've loved every minute of it.

Turkey Day is only a few short weeks away, which is my cousin's favorite holiday. Not just for the food, but because my whole family gets together and it's a very special bonding time. We do at Christmas too, but it's a different vibe. Christmas is my favorite time of year, but the holidays in general bring us all closer, which is always a good thing.

Well, I didn't feel too well last night, but I'm recovering. I still got plenty of work done yesterday, so it's all good. Today I'll be working on a submission package for Victor Carungi (Pencilneck), and more Zombie Cop. If I have time after that I'll be working on some logos, maybe, and Corrective Measures #8. So much to do...

Yesterday I caught up on Haven work, and was given some more responsibilities, so that should be fun. I've got to remind Lance to get me the info for the newsletter, though, as it needs to go out soon!

Election Day is in a couple of days, but I'm not going into it here and now. Just thought I'd mention it for the sake of it.

Last night I watched Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was okay. What prompted me to watch it was my little cousin sent over the series of books, which I'd never read. Then I realized we had the DVD for a while, but I had never watched it (picked it up at a flea market for like $5). I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. It had potential, but I don't think it was realized.

And because of Jim Carey being in that movie, it made me think of something. Remember when he played the Grinch? Remember the little girl that played Cindy Lou Who? Well, I just recently found out she's on this show called Gossip Girl these days all grown up. Man I feel old. I wasn't that young when that movie came out! I think I was like 24. Man.

I started to watch this movie on G4 called The Host, which is a creature feature movie, but the subtitles got on my nerves. It looked decent though for that type of movie. I wanted to try to watch something scary, but I couldn't find anything to get into. Oh well.

Oh, in one week...

I have yet to write the first installment of this new column I mentioned a few posts back. Don't worry, though, I'm planning on having five installments written before it goes live just to be safe.

Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight!

What would you do-oo-oo for a Klondike Bar? Me, nothing, I hate the things. I don't know, just because...

I have too much junk, and not enough stuff. Ever feel like that? I wish I could just throw everything out and start over. All my furniture, accessories, most of my clothing... everything. I'm just bored with it all. Most of my clothes don't currently fit, and they're just not me anymore anyway. Sigh, one of these days.

Speaking of, we're about to paint in the house. We've been dealing with drab white walls for over four years now. It's time for a change. We're going with a pale green in the kitchen, which looks better than it sounds. And in the loft upstairs it'll be a tan with a thick black stripe (yep, I'm gettin' creative). My room is going to be black and silver, though I'm not sure how I'll do it up yet. I used to paint houses and apartments, so I know what I'm doing somewhat. I hate cutting in and doing baseboards though - don't have the patience for it anymore. So I'll be doing the rolling and letting someone else do the tedious stuff.

You know what sucks? I have an HD cable box and no HDTV. My brother has an HDTV in his room (got it off my uncle), hence the boxes, but I get HD channels (what handful my sad cable company offers) but they do me no good. Sigh.

I may be having lunch with a local creator sometime next week, but I haven't heard back from him on when, so we'll see. He had asked me to lunch a looong time ago, but at the time I couldn't, then I forgot about it. I remembered recently and contacted him and he seemed game. It'll be cool because aside from Chuck Moore I don't know many locals into comics.

So, a lot to talk about, yet I haven't said much at all really. Ponder that.

B-Out

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's wishing a very happy turkey day to all you carnivores out there (and a happy cranberry day I guess for all the vegans and vegetarians (though I'm not sure what the difference is). Regardless of your eating preference, have a blessed day with your family and friends, and be sure to consider all the things in your life you are thankful for.

As for me, I am thankful for a small group of friends that have proven to be true friends over the past year or two. You know who you are. And for my family, who I may not always see eye to eye with, but have always been there in one way or another. And for a few others that I care about dearly and wish I could see more. You know who you are as well.

I'm also thankful for being alive and for not having it as bad as I could have it. Even in the worst of times I can see how I have been blessed through the years, and being that this is a day of reflection on those things I'd be remiss not to make reference to them, if not specifically at least by mention.

I'm thankful that for the past year I've been able to do what I love for the most part, and that I know my path even if it's a little hard to get to. I'm thankful that over the past two years I've grown tremendously and things have become much more clear to me.

And finally, last, but not least, to all of you that diligently read my musings and updates from time to time. I appreciate your dedication and interest more than you could know.

May each and every one of you have a wonderful day today, whether it's a holiday where you are or not. And may you all be richly blessed.

And for the rest of you, to quote Bilbo Baggins, "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." If you can make sense of that, I kid, I kid. :) In all seriousness, Happy Thanksgiving! Don't gorge yourselves on pumpkin pie! B-Out

What the Wind Blew In

It's been a busy day. I kind of stayed away from the computer for the most part of the weekend, but today it's been work, lettering, editing, recipe finding, "window shopping" as it were, and other stuff. So it's been a pretty full day.

I finished up a small lettering job on time, so that worked out well. Though I've got two more I've got to finish corrections on before Thanksgiving, so it will be a full week.

I set up some pretty cool interviews for SBC in the coming weeks, so that should be a real treat.

Made some headway on some edits of a script today, more later tonight. Then I've got two more scripts to edit waiting in the wings, possibly three.

No more lettering bites so far. I had to actually turn down one because it just wasn't enough pay for the work involved unfortunately.

Still waiting to hear back from a few people, so we'll see how things go.

Not much TV watching this weekend surprisingly. I did catch The Honeymooners and The Cleaner (must've been Cedric, the Entertainer day), and both were mildly entertaining and humorous.

I played the first video game I've played in many months yesterday, Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain. I've had the game for a loooong time now, but many things have impeded my progress. First, I didn't have the proper controller for it (it required a specific kind), then months later I got that, then got stuck, and so forth and so on. But I finally made some headway last night and forgot how much fun it was to just get lost in games. So that was fun.

Physically, I am feeling much better as far as the infection goes. I barely even notice what's left of the pain. And even though I currently have a head cold and my throat hurts, for some reason through it I feel very relaxed. And oddly enough, I'm not feeling a lot of stress lately. Must be the holiday feeling in the air as I love this time of year.

Let's see, I'm making a pumpkin dip for Thanksgiving that has taco seasoning and peppers in it, and corn chips to dip in it. So that should be interesting. Never made it before, but I like trying new things.

And I will be moving things around as far as all the Amazon stuff sometime this week as I've gotten a lot of good feedback on it. Thanks, everyone!

Well, I guess that's about all that's going today, more later (including cafepress stores!).

B-Out