Caught a touch of the lurgy.

Posted by jupe

Well, yesterday was fun, despite feeling the beginning of a cold of sorts.  I went to tea with the ladies at the Comic Book Embassy and brought my spinning wheel. We hung out and chatted for about 2 1/2 hours before I had to go to the Toronto Comix meeting. I was also chastised for not updating Tumblr. SO, that means I need to start crossposting my stuff to Tumblr. I have no problems with that. Thanks, BC, for poking me about it.

The meeting ended rather early and I opted not to grab a bite with Andrew and Malcolm and …was it Mark? (I can’t remember) so I could pick up some food on the way home for poor sick Alex and the boys. I got a couple wonton soups for us and we enjoyed a nice meal. I bit into a hot chili by accident and my mouth was on fire for a little while, but I did eventually recover and was able to taste and enjoy the rest of my meal.

After dinner, I noticed that my throat was getting even more sore and I started coughing a lot… I was also suddenly extremely cold, so I bundled up until the kids were due to go to bed and Alex and I put the kids to bed together. Then, it was warm up on the couch time. My slippers fit Alex’s feet better than my own feet. Balls. I’ll still wear them but that’ll be itching at the back of my mind whenever I put them on.

I took some Tylenol Cold and Fever before I went to bed and couldn’t fall asleep, much like the night before. After some time passed, I eventually fell asleep, but spent the majority of the night tossing and turning. Nick woke us up and I’m sure I had a fever. Shivering like crazy and too hot at the same time. Very uncomfortable. Alex opted to go to work since he slept his fever off and I bundled up, drank tea, and worked on the daily drawing.

I must say… Manga Studio 5’s perspective tool? MWAH! Love it. I can actually colour the picture tomorrow and we’ll see how Kitai’s final piece looks.

Today’s task: fold some laundry, since I won’t be attending knit night.

Hope my knitting friends have a great time, and that everyone has a pleasant Monday.

Short and Sweet Today

Posted by jupe

I spent all my time this morning working on the inks in my daily drawing that I’ve left very little time for a shower and to get ready. Today, I have High Tea at the Embassy with the art ladies of Toronto, hosted by the lovely Meghan Hendricks and Keiren Templeton-Smith. I’m going to bring some tea along to share since I couldn’t bake that Spanish Bar Cake last night. I had no icing sugar for the frosting and you can’t have that cake without the frosting. It’s against the law.

After tea I have a meeting for Toronto Comix Vol 2. I’ll either be assigned as an artist or an inker. I think I’d prefer just ink and lettering, as I have a lot on my plate, but I’ll take whatever is given to me.

It should be a nice day of just me and not having to be a full time mom. Those days feel really far between right now so I appreciate them when I can.

I had a nice long talk on the phone with Carol Shaw, who is like a second mom to me. I miss her terribly. I hope that maybe we can visit Thunder Bay this summer. We’ll see, yes?

Anyway, happy Sunday, everyone!

A nice, slow day.

Posted by jupe

Well, our plans fell through for the Santa Claus Parade, and I send my deepest condolences to Lisa for her family’s loss… part of me is a little bit happy that I can relax and do some stuff around the house. Alex and I are going to set up the new bunk beds for the boys! Nick’s been chomping at the bit to get the new bunk beds set up so that he can sleep on the top like a real big boy.

I haven’t started my revisions to the script yet, either. I spent a lot of time knitting yesterday and after Nick pulled a huge bullshit move at school, I will be adding yet another name to the list of things I need to do.  What did he do? He stole the librarian’s personal keys for her car and house on Thursday and she had to call for assistance. $500. Cos of my kid.  Anyway, he owned up to it on Friday and I brought him home to find the keys, which he had stashed away like a little bastard. At least he could find them.

So, because I don’t have $500, I will be knitting the librarian a lovely winter accessory with my own handspun yarn. She never asked for any reimbursement or compensation and she is a very forgiving lady, but I think it would be sort of an asshole move not to do anything for her.

When Nick got home yesterday, he had to clean up a big mess and didn’t get to watch tv. He still has that task today, still with no tv, and he will not be getting any tv until he finishes cleaning up that toy room. It’s his and his brother’s mess and he needs to learn to clean up after himself. He knows how, but just won’t, because kids.

It was my day to sleep in and it wasn’t very restful. The whole morning was a combination of Rusty screaming and Nick tattling on Rusty for stupid shit that doesn’t fucking matter. SO, I got up and brewed some tea and did a daily drawing.

About today’s drawing: consider it a sketch. I’ll refine it tomorrow and eventually colour it. That character holds a special place in my heart and I have always loved drawing her.

Anyway, I have shit to do today, including making lunch for the demonspawn and then getting stuff out of the boys room to set up the new beds. I’m gonna be sore tomorrow.

More work to do.

Posted by jupe

Well, I had class last night, and it looks like this week will be a writing-heavy week. No worries, though; I’ll still do my daily drawings.  I have some more sketches to upload, too. Expect to see a lot of dog drawings, as I’m not that great at drawing animals and I’ll need the practice if this story is going to be about, well, a dog. Ty gave me some amazing feedback on my story, and my friend Nelson gave me some feedback, too. I have some writing to do!

In the meantime, there are the usual chores. Dishes; laundry; sweeping; cooking. Alex had to be at work this morning at 7, so I had the kids by myself this morning. I got Nick all set and ready to go. Today was crazy hat day at school, so I let him wear his dad’s Dwarven Battle Bonnet. I’ll grab a picture later cos I forgot my phone when I went to drop him at school.

This weekend was supposed to be really busy but half of the big plans dropped. Alex’s step sister’s grandmother died and they had to cancel. I hope we can reschedule something with them before we all forget, like always.

So, anyway, today will be spent doing some chores, doing some drawing, and doing a lot of writing. As soon as this blog post is over, the drawing will begin.

I hope all my American friends had a lovely Thanksgiving. Try not to die today on Black Friday. 😛

I just love Thursdays.

Posted by jupe

Thursday is class day. I love, love, LOVE Thursdays. I’ll be meeting with Fred for dinner before class today and joining us will be Greg and possibly Tom and Mandy from class. I’ll head downtown earlier than usual, too, since I haven’t seen Fred in effing forever. So, I’m thinking ramen noodles, as the weather has been getting colder lately. A nice, hot soup will help warm the soul and fuel the brain — and if we have time, we can stop at the tea house for a cuppa before class.

All good.

Last night’s dinner was a simple one. Alex came home early from work because he was feeling like shit. I made wonton soup and pork buns for dinner and that went over really well. Everyone seemed decently satisfied with dinner. I passed out on the couch before the kids went to bed and Alex didn’t disturb me. I woke up to find out he was watching Man of Steel, then we watched the rest together and finished the night with Star Trek TNG. We watched Chain of Command parts 1 and 2. Part 2 is probably my favourite TNG episode. Picard rocks.

On the drawing front, I finished the Leona turnaround for today’s daily drawing. I’ll be sure to add it to the appropriate folders. We’ll see whether or not I do more turnarounds tonight, I don’t know. I’m equally dreading and looking forward to drawing Dog. That’s the only part I’m not overly confident about. I’ll have to find all sorts of reference stuff to work with so I’m comfortable with it.

Today’s big chore is dishes. I want Alex to be able to make dinner for the boys when I’m gone. Hope, hope, hope.

Speaking of hope, I hope Ty read my script. I wanna start on my thumbnails asap. 🙂

Chugging along.

Posted by jupe

Well, I was up fairly late last night writing, but I got a bunch of kinks worked out. The story is coming along really nicely. Hopefully, I’ll have the script done by Thursday so I can ask Ty what he thinks of it and for any ideas. The story has really come a long way since I pitched it to the class and I’m actually really proud of myself.  I’ve thought of a bunch of great angles and shots to draw and I’ll be headed down to the area I need to draw to take photos soon. I want to have all the pencils for my story done by Christmas.

And all of this is thanks to Ty’s writing class. If any of my readers are from Toronto and if any of you want to draw or write comics, take Ty’s course. It’s worth it a hundred times over.

In other news, we had a family game day, yesterday. Nick played Wii Sports and Wii Play all day. He loves the mini tanks game the most and is getting better and better at it. We ended game day with Mario Kart.  I think Sunday will be the game day if he’s had a good week and that Wii would be a good reward for when he finishes his homework.

His reading is coming along really nicely. He tries to read everything he sees and gets it right a lot of the time. I’m really proud of him.

Rusty’s speech is also coming, though slowly. He’s picking up more words. I worked on and finished his word charts yesterday. We have a schedule now and a “I want” chart so he can tell me what he wants without screaming at me.

I’ve decided on life drawings for today for the daily drawing. I drew Russell from an existing photo because he’s a squirmy little bastard who won’t stay still. It looks like him, so I feel successful today in my art.

 

Today’s tea was Canadian, EH? from T by David. Super smooth and yummy.

 

Today’s agenda is pretty chill. Nick is home from school with a mild fever and a sore throat so I imagine the tv and the cartoons will be going all day. That’s all right. At least I can get some things done.  if I get a chance, I’ll head up to see my knitting friends later and drop off their popcorn orders from Nick’s scout troupe.

On the knitting project front, I have one doll dress to make, the brunette doll, a dwarven battle bonnet, a cowl, something for my mother, and a mystery gift for Ty. I’ll post pics of the projects after Christmas so that nobody is inadvertently spoiled.

I am excite!

Posted by jupe

So, I got a LOT written last night. I wrote the story bibles, the outlines, the supporting cast, and mapped the story out. I then wrote out and did mini thumbnails for the entire first act.

This is all from the little outline I wrote for homework last week. My buddy Tom helped me refine Act IV and I think it really works now.

The comic will be available for free online (with a donation box in case someone likes it enough to toss me a couple bucks) and it’s coming along really  nicely.

In addition to that, I have Red Surge work (which I’ll show in the Projects tab soon) and the second Toronto Comix anthology to work on, as soon as I am assigned a writer to draw for.

In other news, I have a lot of life stuff to deal with today. Alex is brewing beer all morning and afternoon with his buddies and that leaves me with the kids and a giant to do list to take care of. Groceries, cat food, craft supplies, and more. I’m working on a visual communication system for Rusty who isn’t speaking much and I’m really hoping that it’ll continue to make life easier. We have a chart up for him already and it’s working but we need more charts with interchangeable words and demands so that he can make choices. Also, I need to pick up Nick’s scout popcorn order today. I think I’ll just take the boys out for lunch when I run all these errands.

So, with that, I leave you all. Today’s daily drawing is a bit of a cheat, as I decided to colour yesterday’s drawing. IT’S ALLOWED. Have a great Saturday.

What could be better than Rasta Pasta?

Posted by jupe

Well, as far as jerk is concerned, not much. Rasta Pasta is a hole in the wall in Kensington Market but is well worth the visit. It’s a tiny, well kept space, and your meat is grilled on the barbecue. I was happy with the fresh side of cabbage, carrot, and peppers, as it’s really good winter food. Packed full of vitamins. I came across it when I was walking the area with EK and Brett Weaver back during TCAF and finally went back with Greg before class.

We got downtown fairly early, so after eating we actually had time to sit somewhere and hang out.  We opted for a small tea shop around the corner and sat in warmth and comfort while we did homework and notekeeping from the previous classes. I was hesitant before writing the Rom Com because they can be, well, boring and predictable… but it was the assignment and I didn’t want to go to class emptyhanded. The previous night, I played around with the idea of a person becoming friends with a dog and ran with it yesterday.

It turned out surprisingly well.

It turned out so well that I decided that I’ll make it into a comic. I need to do the writing and scripting still, plus the story bible, and I’ve never drawn dogs before. It’ll be a fun exercise and a good way to keep up the daily drawings. Expect a lot of pictures coming up of dogs and a lesbian teen.

I spent the entire morning working on the picture for today’s daily drawing, but I’m okay with that. I do, however, think that I’ll work on more pictures by hand, as I find digital drawing takes a lot longer than pencil sketching. Plus, I do enjoy using the new scanner. Might be the easier way to go.

I got all my chores and to do list done yesterday, which is nice. I also came downstairs this morning to see that Alex had emptied the dishwasher last night for me. It was a good way to start the day. I immediately filled it up and ran it again; I’m almost caught up with the kitchen chores!

As for today, I think that I’ll spend some more time doing some writing. I do have to go out and get Nick from school, but that shouldn’t be much of a distraction.  It’s barely 1pm and Rusty is napping on the couch. I’m cool with this because it allows me some quiet time to do some writing, browsing, and even chores. I may not be able to watch tv during his nap, but I think that’s okay. I may even bring up some laundry to fold. We’ll see, yes?

Today’s tea was David’s Tea Ceylon Star. It’s a somewhat earthy and yummy black tea with a hint of sweetness. I had a bit of milk in it and some sugar to curb the bitterness that I find black tea gives.  I steeped it at boiling for 3 minutes this time.

Dinner tonight will be something with chicken breast. Maybe a nice noodle and red pepper stir fry. Or, maybe some homemade chicken fingers. I don’t know, yet. We’ll see what happens. In any case, I’ll photograph it later and post the recipe.

Wow, did we ever get it.

Posted by jupe

And by get it, I mean snow. Not nearly as much as Buffalo, mind you, who got a meter dumped on them… but for Toronto? This much snow this early in the year? Yeah.

Driving was fun, yesterday… and by fun, I mean a fucking nightmare. I was fishtailing all over the place and slid off the road at one point — while doing 20kph. Unbelievable. It took me twenty minutes to drive six kilometers. Luckily, I got Nick in time from school and all was well — plus, Rusty had no potty accidents. He even fell asleep in the back seat, blissfully unaware of the chaos on the roads. I wish I were a kid again.

So, because of the weather, I’m deciding to stay in for the majority of the day. Alas, it won’t be for the entire day; I have writing class today and must brave the weather and the traffic to learn amazing things this week.  I still haven’t done my homework, but that’s mostly because I hadn’t thought of anything to write about.  I might actually sit and finish up in a bit because I came up with an idea late last night.

Alex was home late again last night. It took him over an hour to get home in the snow last night. The roads must not have been salted yet. He said this morning’s commute was “only” 45 minutes. (double the regular commute) and that certainly beats last night’s commute. He got home after 10pm. Poor bastard works 12 hour shifts most nights, other than Thursdays. I’ve given up my knit night because his workload is SO intense.

I wish they’d hire more people to help him. It gets lonely in the evenings without a snuggly, warm husband to watch tv with. Cats are nice, but husband is better.

Anyway, here’s today’s checklist:

★ Draw
★ Blog
★ Write the romcom outline
★ Dishes
★ Get Nick from school
★ Class
★ Survive the drive home

I have no idea what I’ll be eating for dinner tonight. Greg hasn’t texted me yet. I should text him about it. In any case, I’ll post again tomorrow. I want to do this everyday. I will do this everyday. I can do this everyday.

Have a great day. 🙂